Again
by jacqueliner
Summary: Katniss Everdeen won the 72nd Annual Hunger Games when she was just 14 by a stroke of luck. Now, as a mentor, her sister gets chosen to compete in the 74th Hunger Games and Katniss will do anything to save her, including going back into the arena. Rated for occasional bad language, violence and some PG-13 themes eventually. FINALLY UPDATED!
1. The Reaping

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;)**

"There's alot of names this year," Effie said conversationally, fluffing her pink wig. Haymitch took a swig from his silver flask and then tucked it inside his jacket.

"It's the tesserae," I said shortly, drawing patterns in the red velvet of the couch I was seated on.

"Shitty district," Haymitch said clearing his throat, "Time yet?" he asked.

I got to my feet to peer out the window to the square. I spotted Prim, my younger sister, walking towards her section. I wish I could have helped her come here this morning. It was her first reaping and I knew that she was terrified. Luckily, her name was only in the ball once. She didn't need to sign up for tesserae. My winnings as victor of the 72nd Hunger Games more than covered her needs, as well as my mothers and my own.

My boyfriend Gale's name however was in the ball dozens of times, likely making up half of the boys slips. He wouldn't take a dime from me, resulting in his recieving tesserae nearly every month since he became eligable. At least this was the last year he was able to compete. We had started dating weeks after I got back from the Hunger Games when I was 14 and he was 16 and we had been friends for a year or so before that.

"Up, up, up!" Effie sang, "It's time!"

Haymitch got to his feet, grumbling about Effie's perkiness. She pretended not to hear him and led the way out onto the stage, her pink heels clattering loudly on the polished wood.

Mayor Undersee introduced up. They played a short documentary about the rebellion years ago. Effie gave a short speech and then it was time to draw names.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the crowd gathered in the square. I looked out over the sections of teenagers trying to find Gale. Effie walked to the ball containing girls names and stuck her hand in. She fished around, adding to the suspense before her fingers pinched one slip and pulled it out. She walked back to the microphone.

She unfolded the slip and let out a small squeak and I looked over at her expectantly. She met my eye hesitantly and looked back at the slip. She grew pale underneath her pink glitter and then she cleared her throat. "Primrose Everdeen," she said, voice cracking.

My heart seemed to stop in my chest and I gripped my hands around Haymitch's arm. I felt the blood drain out of my face as I turned to look at the square, trying to locate my sister in the crowd, but I couldn't find her blonde braids and brilliant blue eyes. I glanced up at the screens to see if a camera man had found her, only to see my own face, eyes wide, face white as winter snow.

I looked back down just to see Prim walk out into the aisle between the girls and boys sections. Her eyes were wide and terrified, tears beginning to form. She was taking short measured steps towards the stage, staring up at Effie.

How? How did that happen? She literally had only one slip in the whole bowl. She was only twelve. I had to do something. Anything.

She tripped and stumbled before falling onto her hands and knees in the dirt. She didn't move to get up as she began to sob into the ground. I released Haymitch and ran towards the stairs, my heels slamming loudly as I hurried down them. I ran down the aisle towards her. I fell to my knees infront of her and grabbed her wrists, pulling her up. "Prim," I gasped out.

She looked up at me, face red, tears falling freely down her cheeks. "Katniss," she whimpered.

"You're okay," I told her, pulling her into a soft embrace. I kissed her hair and brushed off her knees. I wiped her hands on the mint green linen dress I wore. "You're going to be okay."

I glanced up and saw the Peacekeepers converging on us. I had to do something quick. I glanced over to Haymitch who met my eye uneasily. He knew what I was thinking. He nodded once.

I got to my feet abruptly and pushed Prim behind me. I sucked in a deep breath.

"I volunteer," I said, "I volunteer as tribute."


	2. The Boy with Bread

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;)**

_"I volunteer," I said, "I volunteer as tribute."_

The square fell silent. So silent you could have heard a pin drop to the dirt ground.

Effie's face paled even more beneath her pink glitter, her jaw hanging open.

"Katniss, no!" Prim cried, wrapping her arms tightly around my body, "Please Katniss!"

"Prim, be quiet," I said as harshly as I could manage, yet she continued sobbing into my side.

And then I felt her being lifted off of me and I whirled around to tell the Peacekeepers to let go of my sister, but instead I saw Gale. His strong arms were wrapped tightly around Prim's small torso, holding her still.

She was struggling, trying hard to break free of his grasp, but he held her tight.

I looked at Gale. "Thank you," I said softly.

He nodded once. "Up you go Catnip," he said gently.

I turned and walked up to the stage, my high heels sinking into the dirt ground. I set a foot on the first stair and looked back to Gale and Prim. She was still fighting to escape his grip, tears falling down her round cheeks. He was walking over to our mother. I mounted the stairs and walked towards Effie. I stood still once I got to her right side.

I looked at her and cleared my throat.

Her jaw snapped shut and she took in a deep breath before walking over to the boys ball. She was so upset she didn't even fish around for a slip of paper. She snagged a slip from the top and walked back to the microphone, not saying a word. She unfolded it and glanced down at it, "Peeta Mellark," she said into the microphone.

Of course it was him. The Boy with the Bread. Back when my father had died, my mother had gotten depressed and didn't work, so we couldn't afford food. We were starving and I was digging around the garbage bins in the back of the Mellark's bakery for some scraps to feed myself and my sister. Peeta saw me and intentionally burnt a few loaves so he could throw them out back to me. His mother beat him with a rolling pin for that stunt, but since that rainy April day, I was in debt to him.

I clasped my hands infront of myself as a pale Peeta Mellark walked to the stage. He stood on Effie's other side as she clapped her hands together, trying to gain back some of her enthusiasm. "May I introduce to you, your District 12 tributes, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!"

Applause began, scattered amongst the square and then faded quickly.

"Shake hands!" Effie exclaimed.

Peeta and I stepped forward. I held out my right hand and he took it in his. He squeezed it gently, or maybe it was just a spasm?

The anthem was played and then Peacekeepers ushered us back into the Justice building.

The door shut behind us and immediately, I sagged back against it. I slid down it and propped my elbows on my knees, head in my hands. I took in a deep a breath. I felt eyes on me and glanced up to see Effie, Haymitch and Peeta looking down at me sympathetically. "Shit," I said, laughing slightly, "Shit."

"You're going to be okay sweetheart," Haymitch told me, "If it's the last thing I do. But you need to keep it together for now. You only have half an hour to say your goodbyes. Don't cry the whole time."

I took another shakey breath. He was right.

Peeta offered me a hand which I took. He pulled me to my feet.

Effie patted my shoulder encouragingly before leading us to our individual rooms to say our goodbyes. I sighed as I sat on the same red velvet couch as I did two years ago. I couldn't believe this.

Was this one of those nightmares that had haunted me since I had returned the last time?

I pinched my arm hard.

But I knew that this wasn't a nightmare. This was my real life. I was going back into the arena.


	3. The Goodbyes

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;)**

_But I knew that this wasn't a nightmare. This was my real life. I was going back into the arena._

Finally, the door opened and Prim and my mother came in. Prim lauched herself into my lap and I held her to my chest, kissing her head. My eyes met those of my mothers over Prim's head.

In her eyes, I saw her fear. I knew why. I had won the 72nd Hunger Games on some sort of fluke. The Gamemakers wouldn't want me to win again. They would do everything the could to ensure that I wouldn't win. That I couldn't win. The odds were most certainly not in my favor. In fact, the odds were stacked against me.

"You can't just skip out again," I told my mother, "Not like with dad. Prim needs you. She will need you."

My mother nodded, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Prim doesn't need to sign up for tesserae. Don't let her. Even though they won't let you keep living off my winnings, Gale will make sure you're fed well enough," my voice cracked slightly.

"But you aren't going anywhere," Prim said, "Just to the arena. You'll be back in a few weeks, just like last time!"

I laughed.

"You will win, right?" she asked.

"I'll try Little Duck," I told her softly, kissing her forehead.

"What about your night terrors?" Prim said, "They haven't gotten any better."

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I'll be fine Prim. Maybe my day terrors will cancel them out?" I tried to joke.

She didn't find it very funny.

The door opened. "Time's up," said the Peacekeeper.

Prim burst into fresh tears. Tears clung to my mothers eyelashes as well. I got to my feet and wrapped my arms around my mothers shoulders. I rest my head on her shoulder. She seemed surprised before she wrapped her arms around my torso in a hug. It was so foreign, but very welcome.

"I love you Katniss," she told me.

"Love you too mom," I said, voice cracking. I released her and looked at her face. She was so sad. I forced myself to look away from her and down to Prim. I crouched and hugged her as well, kissing her wet cheek. "I love you too," I told her.

"Stay safe Katniss, my mother said.

"Stay strong," I told her.

The Peacekeeper led them away and shut the door behind himself. I sat down heavilly on the couch, tears pricking my eyes. I would never see either of them again.

The door opened and I cleared my throat and looked up, wiping my eyes. Mr. Mellark Stepped in. Peeta's father.

He held a small box of frosted cookies out to me silently.

I took them. "Thank you," I said.

"I'll help take care of your mother and sister," he said quietly, "Make sure they're fed."

"It means alot Mr. Mellark," I said, "Thank you."

He nodded and then stood silently by the door until our time was up. He left with the Peacekleeper without a backwards glance.

I stared at the cookies in my hand. Why had he brought me cookies when his son was just down the hall in the same boat?

The door opened again and Madge Undersee stepped in, dressed in a pretty white dress, her blonde hair falling softly around her pale shoulders. "Hey you," she said, smiling softly.

"Again hey?" I said, trying to muster up a smile.

She gave a wry smile. "Lucky you," she said.

I laughed quietly but it turned into a sob.

She walked to my side and wrapped me in a one armed hug. "You'll be okay Katniss," she said softly, "You're very strong. I don't even think you realize it."

I rested my chin on her shoulder as she hugged me. Five minutes passed and she leaned back. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something small and gold.

"Here. It was my aunts when she was in the Hunger Games," Madge said, handing me a small gold pin, "It's a mockingjay."

"Madge, I said, trying to hand it back to her, "You keep it!"

"Tributes are allowed to take one thing from back home into the arena with them," Madge said, "Take it. It would mean alot if you wore it."

"I can't," I said, "How will you..."

"You can give it back when you come back a victor again," she said, smiling. She pinned it to my dresss above my left breast.

The door opened. "Time's up," said the Peacekeeper.

Madge got to her feet and I followed suit. "Good luck," she told me, leaning in to kiss my cheek.

"Thank you," I said, touching the pin.

She smiled and then followed the Peacekeeper down the hall.

My heart panged in my chest. She was probably the best friend that I'd had.

When the door opened the last time, Gale stepped inside and immediately, I was gathered up in his arms, my face buried in his chest. I breathed in his earthy familiar scent and felt tears well in my eyes. "I'm sorry," I told him.

He kissed the top of my head. "Don't worry. I would have done the same if it was Rory," he said.

"Gale, make sure they don't starve," I whispered, "Prim and mom. Hunt for them?"

"Of course," he said, "But you'll be back in under a month," he said.

"I won't Gale," I said, "The Gamemakers won't let me get off so easy this time. They will do everything they can to prevent me from winning."

"Then you need to do everything you can to win," he told me.

I looked up at him.

"You need to get your hands on a bow and arrow," he said.

"They may not have one," I said, "When I was in the first time, they didn't."

"Then make one Katniss," he told me, holding my face between his hands, "Your dad taught you. A weak one is better than none at all."

"Gale," I said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I think we should end this," I said softly.

He froze, his eyes not faltering from mine. His hands slid from my face. "Katniss," he said slowly.

"I'm going to die out there Gale," I said, "And when I do, I want you to be able to move on. No loose ends. No feelings."

"You can't just give up Katniss," he said, voice raising angrilly, "You can't just give them what they want!"

"I'm not," I said, backing away from him, "If I survive, we can get back together. But right not my odds aren't very good and I don't want to torture you after I'm gone when you want to move on."

"Dammit Katniss!" he yelled, slamming his fist into the wall, "I love you, okay? You can't just lay down and die. What about me? Prim? Your mother? We need you here. You need to fight!"

I hurried to him and wrapped my arms around his chest. He embraced me and kissed my forehead.

"I'll try Gale," I told him, "But for now..."

"We're done," he finished.

I nodded.

"Okay," he said.

"Can you still take care of Prim and my mom?"I asked, pleading.

He nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

He pressed a soft kiss to my lips and I held his head there, kissing him back. The door opened and we broke apart.

"Time," said the Peacekeeper, eyeing Gale warily.

Gale hugged me tightly and then let go before turning to follow the Peacekeeper. "I love you," he told me before the door shut behind them.

I stood in the centre of the room, shaking. Gale rarely lost his temper and when he did, it was terrifying. I curled my hands into fists, so tight that I felt my nails cutting into my skin.

The door opened and Effie's bright wig appeared. "Come on Katniss," she said, pep returning to her voice, "We're going to the train and we have to leave all together."

I followed her, my fists still clenched tightly.

We walked to the car that would drive us to the train, through the crowds of District Twelve residents. Once we got to the vehicle, Peeta helped Effie into the front seat and Haymitch slid in the back. Peeta was helping me in when I heard someone call my name. I looked around and saw all of the citizens in the square raise three fingers from their left hand to their lips and then held them up towards us. Towards me.

I saw Gale standing with his arm around Prim, both saluting. Prim's face was soaked in tears but Gale's face was hard and stoney. And then one tear slowly slid down his cheek and fell to the dirt.


	4. The Train

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;)**

_I saw Gale standing with his arm around Prim, both saluting. Prim's face was soaked in tears but Gale's face was hard and stoney. And then one tear slowly slid down his cheek and fell to the dirt._

I almost lost it. I definitely would have, but Haymitch caught my hand and pulled me into the car. Peeta slid into the backseat beside me and shut the door and then the car slid away from the curb. "Keep it together sweetheart," Haymitch said softly.

My fists stayed clenched for the whole car ride, the pain in my palms keeping me grounded.

When we arrived at the train, I forced a smile with a teary eyed Peeta, hands still in fists.

Finally, we got on the train, doors sliding shut behind us. Peeta stumbled as it lurched into motion but I was expecting it. I pushed around Peeta and rushed to the window to see my last glimpse of District 12 disappear around the corner.

I stood there for awhile, unaware of anything behind me, watching the countryside roll by, flashes of spring green and sky blue and bright yellow assaulting my eyes. It was too joyful. Too bright.

I turned from the windowfound leaned back on the cold glass. The sensation was welcome on my hot skin. Goosebumps erupted on my arms and I shuddered. Never again.

I looked up and saw Haymitch sitting in the couch waiting. "I'm sorry sweetheart," he said.

I shook my head before walking to the compartmknew I knew would be where my bedroom was. I shut the door firmly and sat down on the plush bed.

I was going back into the arena.

And I wasn't going to make it back out again.

I released my fists and saw the bright red of blood from my nails staining my palms.

I sighed and went to the attached bathroom and turned on the tap, putting my hands under it.

The cold water made my hands hurt, but I couldn't remove them.

I watched as my blood mixed with the water in the bottom of the white porcelain basin before disappearing down the drain.

I thought of Prim and my mother and how they were so good at mending cuts and other injuries. A ball formed in my throat. I would never see them again.

I swallowed hard and pulled my hands out from under the water. I dried them on a luxurious towel and stood, staring at myself in the mirror.

My dark hair and dark eyes made my already pale skin appear even paler. The dress I wore was crumpled and creased, dirt staining where I had kneeled and where I had wiped Prim's hands.

I stepped out of my heels and unzipped my dress, pulling it off. I removed my undergarments and stepped into the shower.

After I had cleaned everything, I sat on the floor of my shower, water coursing down my slim body.

I refused to cry. I didn't want to show anyone that this was affecting me. Not Effie. Not Haymitch. Not Peeta. Not District 12. And certainly not the Capitol.

I hugged my knees to my chest and rest my chin atop them. I shut my eyes against the luxerious Capitol bathroom, naïvely hoping that if I didn't see it, maybe it wouldn't exist.

But it did exist, and as soon as I opened my eyes, there it was.

I sighed again and pulled myself to my feet. I shut off the water and stepped out, avoiding the fast dryer, opting for a plush towel, which I squeezed my hair in before wrapping it around myself. I left the bathroom and reentered my bedroom, stopping dead when I saw Peeta sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Peeta?" I asked.

He jumped, looked up and flushed. "I knocked," he said, gesturing towards the door. His eyes travelled up and down my body.

"I was in the shower," I said

"I know. I'm sorry. I thought you would come out dressed," he got to his feet and hurried towards the door.

"Peeta, wait," I said.

He paused. "Yes?"

"What did you need?" I asked.

"We're eating dinner," he said before leaving the room.

I dressed in a navy velour track suit and a white t-shirt before walking to the dining compartment.

"There she is!" Haymitch practically bellowed.

"You're drunk," I said.

"Am not!" he said, sloshing around a bottle of clear liquid.

I rolled my eyes and sat down, but the ball in my throat returned. Haymitch had given up all subtleties. He was drinking, quite obviously.

And it was all my fault.


	5. The Poisoned Water

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;) Also, this is not just another story, I swear. It's been slow only because it's the start and I'm building everything up! This chapter you learn more about Katniss' first time in the Hunger Games. Please review! Give me input and stuff! **

Dinner was quiet. No incessant babbling from Effie. No forced conversations. The only sound came from silverware hitting plates and liquor sloshing around in Haymitch's bottle.**  
**

My heart hurt.

I couldn't enjoy the lamb stew that I had loved so much last time, so I set down my spoon and watching Effie, Haymitch and Peeta eat.

When done, we relocated to the television room where we were just in time to watch the recap of the tributes. Effie perched herself in an armchair, Haymitch sprawled across the couch, leaving just a small love seat for Peeta and myself. Caesar started the Hunger Games annual news coverage, dressed all in blue, with blue lipstick, blue hair and blue glitter across his cheekbones.

As the news coverage transported us to District One, I felt myself being transported back to the games.

_I stood behind a thick tree trunk, hand clapped over my mouth, trying to will myself to calm down. If I breathed too heavily, it would show in the cold air and she would hear._

_Ruby, the tribute from District One, walked away slowly, her boots crunching the snow beneath her feet._

_I sighed loudly once she was out of hearing distance, placing my hands on the tree infront of me for support. The cool bark felt good underneath my hot hands and I leaned forward and rest my face on the tree as well. I took in a deep breath. That was a close one._

_Suddenly, tingling started on my palms. I yanked them away from the tree and looked at the tree, then looked down at my hands. There was nothing out of the ordinary, save for the small green fruits growing from the tree. I reached up and pulled down one of the small apple like things and took a tentative bite. It was sweet and I was hungry, so I ate the rest of it._

_Tingling started on my face. I reached up and wiped my face with my hands, but nothing happened. I glanced at my hands and saw several angry red blisters forming. I wiped them in my pants, but it only irritated the blisters more. I leaned down to put them in the snow, but it was solid ice around my feet._

_I needed to get to the water pond._

_I turned and ran through the trees, not caring about the noise I was making. I only cared about the excruciating pain from my hands and face. Blisters were starting to pop up on my face as well._

_By the time I got to the water, my blisters were huge and red and angry with the skin stretched tightly over the pus._

_I dove into the warm water without a thought._

_The water took away some of the pain and several blisters popped allowing green pus to ooze out, followed by some blood. I lay in the small pond for a short while, gently wiping my hands and face._

_What the hell? What happened?_

_I thought back. What had I eaten? What had I touched? What did I do?_

_And then it hit me. _

_The ashy brown bark. The shiny green leaves. The small green fruits despite the snowy arena. My heart sank._

_Manchineel._

_I knew it from the poisonous plant books my father had read with my when I was younger. The sap caused blistering of the skin. The fruit was poisonous._

_The fruit I had just eaten._

_I stood up in the water and looked at the normally clear water. Now, it had a milky sheen to it._

_My stomach rolled. Shit._

_I pulled myself out of the water and kneeled on a protruding rock. My mouth was suddenly burning. I doubled over and sucked in a deep breath before reaching my hand into my mouth. After vomiting everything out of my stomach, I drank some of the water from my canteen and stumbled backwards from the pond._

_I was trying to convince myself that I had not just poisoned the whole water supply._

_But later that night, as I lay shivering under some shrubbery and the pictures of seven tributes appeared in the sky, I knew I had._

My eyes shot open and I took a shaky breath.

Peeta glanced sideways at me with a questioning look on his face.

I shook my head and looked back at the television.

"And last but not leaset, District Twelve!" Caesar was saying, "There was quite a commotion there today! Let's watch!"

The camera cut to the square we had just left hours previous, and I was forced to watch as Prim was chosen again. My heart pounded in my chest as it all unfolded again before my eyes.

"So there you have it people," Caesar said, "Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are District Twelve's tributes."

"Katniss must really love the Games if she's going back for her second time!" said the woman sitting with Caesar conversationally.

I abruptly got to my feet, making everyone jump. "I'm going to bed," I said before walking out of the compartment scowling.

**AN: Tadaaaaa! Review if you have any ideas and whatnot! And just to clarify, Manchineel is a real tree that has poisonous fruits and sap and I sort of amplified what would happen because I figured thats what the gamemakers would do. Also, a quick shoutout to Anla'shok who came up with this idea of Katniss inadvertently poisoning other tributes. Check out her story Showdown:No holding back!**


	6. The Agreement

**AN:**** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;) Also, this is not just another story, I swear. It's been slow only because it's the start and I'm building everything up! This is a short chapter where we see Peeta and Haymitch discussing Katniss. Review review review!**

An hour later I lay in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. I had wanted to cry all day, but now that I was alone and had the chance, I couldn't muster up the tears.

I sighed and rolled out of bed, leaving my room and walking towards Haymitch's. I needed someone to talk to.

Once outside of his room, I held up my hand to knock on the door but I stopped. I heard voices from inside.

"Mellark, you don't need to," Haymitch was saying, "Katniss is strong. She can get far on her own."

"And when she gets as far as she can on her own," Peeta said, "Then I'll be there to get her the rest of the way."

"That's a big promise for you to make," Haymitch said dubiously, "Especially for a girl you hardly know."

"She means more to the people of District Twelve than I do," Peeta replied after a short moment.

Haymitch was silent.

"I know you'll put all your effort into Katniss succeeding. I expect you to. And so will I. Maybe we'll get lucky and she will come home again," Peeta said.

"It will be infinitely more difficult this time around. The Gamemakers won't be easy on her. The other tributes will target her even more. And who knows how viewers will react? We don't know what the sponsors will do about it," Haymitch said.

"We'll just have to try hard," Peeta said immediately, "But working together, we will have a much better chance. SHE will have a much better chance."

"If you and Katniss get to the end, will you let her win?" Haymitch asked.

"Yes," Peeta replied instantly, without a moment of hesitation.

Haymitch was silent. After a short while, he spoke. "Why?"

"She has alot more to go back home to," Peeta said, "Way more than I do."

My friend and mentor was silent.

"Do we have an agreement?" Peeta asked, his tone not leaving much room for questions.

"I suppose so," Haymitch said.

I turned away from the door and hurried back to my room.

I pinched myself. Did that really just happen? Was Peeta really going to just lay down and die if by some odd stroke of luck, we made it to the end together? Would he let me win? Or was this some ruse to get Haymitch to help him get to the end with me and then ultimately kill me?

I climbed back into bed and wrapped myself in the covers, heart pounding in my chest.

What the hell was going on?


	7. The Welcome

AN:** Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Welcome to my humble story. I didn't not create the wonderful literature that is the Hunger Games trilogy, but I did create this! Read away! I hope you appreciate it! Reviews are more than welcome. ;) Also, I hope you're liking what's going on, because I'm not hearing alot back from you! Here's another chapter where the tensions are growing.**

I woke the next morning to Effie knocking on my door. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" she cried, "It's going to be a big big big day!"

"Good morning Effie," I said to stop her knocking.

I heard her heels clicking away down the hall and I groaned. My sleep had been terrible, full of dreams from the arena where Peeta was plunging a knife through my heart.

I rolled out of bed, took a quick shower and dressed in simpled grey dress. I braided my hair and then walked to the dining compartment.

Peeta, Effie and Haymitch were already all there. Peeta was drinking a cup of hot chocolate greedily. I understood. Hot chocolate was still my favorite.

Haymitch was already tipsy.

"Good morning!" Effie exclaimed.

"Good morning," I said, forcing a smile.

"Sit down!" Haymitch practically bellowed, making Peeta jump.

I sat down and cast Haymitch a pointed look. I filled a plate with decadent food, but it all tasted like cardboard in my mouth. I forced it down anyways.

As I ate, I noticed Peeta's glare towards Haymitch, who was knocking back spirits in his cranberry juice like it was water. Something in Peeta's jaw was ticking. He seemed to be furious.

"Any advice Haymtch?" he asked shortly.

"Stay alive," Haymitch said, chuckling to himself.

"Very funny," Peeta said. And suddenly, he was on his feet, fists slamming down on the mahogany table.

Effie shrieked, spilling her black coffee. I jumped away from the table.

"Dammit Haymitch!" Peeta yelled, his face red with anger, "You're supposed to be a mentor. You're supposed to help us! Shit, you're supposed to care! Your closest friend is going back into the arena and you aren't doing one goddamn thing to help!"

Haymitch stared up at Peeta, face pale, jaw dropped open. He blinked once. Twice. And then he was on his feet as well, hands clenched in tight fists. Peeta was stumbling backwards, clutching his face. "What did you just say to me?" Haymitch bellowed.

"Put away your booze and focus on helping us," Peeta spat at him, scooping some ice from the fruit bowl to put on his already brusing jaw.

Haymitch looked ready to take another swing at him and so I got to my feet and grasped Haymitch's wrists, pushing his hands down to his sides. "Cool it. Okay? Let's just eat," I said. I glanced over at Peeta, "Are you okay?"

He nodded and sat back down in his chair.

Effie giggled nervously.

The four of us sat in silence, finishing our meal. When we were done and the plates were clear, Haymitch cleared his throat.

Peeta looked up expectantly.

"We'll be at the Capitol soon," he said, "So smile and look happy. When your stylists and prep teams get their hands on you, let them do what they want. Appearance plays a big part in the Games and they can help you the most with that."

And with that, he pushed back from the table and left the compartment.

We passed through the dark tunnels that led to the Capitol in silence, and when the lights flooded the compartment again, Peeta had pushed his chair back from the table and had his head in his hands. I pretended not to look and instead looked out the windows to see the bright colors of the Capitol.

I didn't miss it at all.

The train slowed and I got to my feet and followed Effie to the main door.

"Smile," Haymitch said gruffly as we met up with him again.

I was glad he reminded me.

The train door slid open and Effie got out first, her hideously pink wig fitting impeccably with the surroundings. Haymitch got out next, alot less gracefully than Effie had. Peeta and I stepped out at the same time, waving and smiling to the cameras and the crowd.

The applause was tumultuous.

'WELCOME BACK KATNISS!' read a large fluorescent sign.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Really, I just wished I could cry.

**AN: Oh boy! I hope you're liking this story! Also, if you have any ideas that you think would work well for any part of this story, just let me know and I will do what I can! Review to let me know please! **

**On another note, I got a new laptop (yayyyy) and this is also the longest story that I have ever written for anything so far (double yayyyyy)!**


	8. The Roof

**AN: Quick note, I update randomly, whenever I have the time, so please be aware of that. In addition, sometimes I update more than one chapter per update and from the traffic stats it looks like some of you have skipped Chapter 6 and went right to 7! Ruh roh! So to help with that I made chaper names and I think I will write it in the summary when I put new chapters up, just so you don't miss out! Regular disclaimer here. Regular begging for reviews here. Have a great day!**

The tears finally came days later after the makeover, the entrance ceremony and the first day of training.

I was sitting at the dining table in our penthouse suite eating dinner with Haymitch, Effie, Peeta, Peeta's stylist Portia and his prep team, my stylist Cinna and my prep team and several Avox's when I looked down at my lamb stew and promptly burst into tears.

I buried my face in my hands to as I sobbed. I cried for Gale, for Prim, my mother, my father. I cried for Hamitch, for Peeta and for myself.

A hand gently rubbed my back and I glanced up. Cinna. He was new as a stylist to the Hunger Games this year.

"Have you been to see the Garden yet?" he asked me, "Up on the roof?"

I shook my head.

"Come on," he said, helping me up and leading me away from the table.

He led me up to the roof. "Cinna?" I asked as he pulled the door shut behind him.

"They don't have cameras up here," Cinna said, "Too windy. I thought you would want the privacy."

I nodded.

"Are you okay?" asked my stylist gently.

I shrugged.

He pulled me into a hug. "You will be fine dear," he said, "Haymitch will be sure of it."

I nodded, sobbing softly into his shoulder.

"You can talk to me honey," he said, "About anything at all."

An hour later, everything on my mind had been poured out to Cinna. I was done crying, now, simply exhausted.

I stared out over the Capitol, Cinna's arm around me. "Do you think I have a chance?" I asked quietly.

Cinna nodded. "You're a strong willed, wonderful, intelligent girl. You can do anything. Even win these games twice," he said.

I nodded, wiping my nose on my sleeve. "Cinna?" I asked.

"Yes dear?" he asked.

"Do you think that Peeta wants to kill me?" I asked.

He was silent, pondering what I had told him earlier. "I don't think so Katniss," he said, "Peeta seems to be quite nice. If he told Haymitch he would help you out, he most likely will."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

Cinna shrugged. "You can never be sure honey. But Peeta is a kind boy. Not a killer. Portia adores him. Perhaps he really only wants to help you."

I nodded thoughtfully.

The door to the roof opened and Cinna and I turned to see Peeta.

"Hey," he said, "I brought a blanket. I thought you might be cold up here."

"Thank you Peeta," Cinna said, "But I was just going back in. I'm sure Katniss would appreciate the blanket and the company."

Peeta walked over to me as Cinna left. He offered me the blanket.

"You okay?" he asked as I wrapped the blanket around both of us.

I shrugged. "It's just alot. How are you holding up?"

"Fine," he said, not volunteering alot of information, "It's weird."

I nodded. A new ball was forming in my throat, tears stinging my eyes.

"Hey," he said, "Don't worry."

I looked out over the Capitol, wiping my eyes with my sleeve "It's funny," I said, "How things work out."

"Yeah," he said.

"To be honest, I didn't even know if I was allowed to volunteer to go again. I just wanted a minute with my sister," I said.

"It was a very generous thing to do," Peeta said, "Effie was saying how it helped to make you a person again. Not just a victor."

"She's so young," I said, more to myself than to him. I hugged my knees to my chest.

Peeta placed a hand on my shoulder. "Katniss," he said gently.

I laughed, wiping tears from my eyes. "You must think I'm a huge baby."

"No," Peeta said, "You're going back into the Hunger Games for your sister. You're incredible. Incredibly brave," he added, flushing slightly.

We sat in silence after that, his arm working its way around my shoulders. I rest my head on his broad shoulder, breathing in his warm, clean scent.

And even though I knew he could try to kill me in a few days, the comfort was welcome.


	9. The Gamemakers Scores

**AN: Please note that I'm focusing a little more on developing Katniss' relationships with people than on the preparation for the Games and the Games themselves. Also, I changed the events of the Games a little to better fit with my story so when it get's to the Games, don't be surprised! Regular disclaimer here. Pretty please review! Have a wonderful day! This is a little comical relief I believe, just because everything is so tense and unhappy, so without further ado, CHAPTER 9!**

"You shot at the Gamemakers?" Effie shrieked at me a few days later.

All the tributes had had their private sessions with the Gamemakers and by the time they'd gotten to District Twelve, the Gamemakers could care less, especially about me. I was familiar. I was old news. They knew I could shoot arrows at targets. They knew I could throw knives fairly acccurately. They knew they would give me an 8 like last time before I even walked into the room.

I didn't want to get ignored, so I upped the ante.

"I didn't shoot at the Gamemakers," I scowled, "I shot at their roasted pig. Took the apple right out its mouth and made apple juice on the wall behind them."

Peeta snorted and Haymitch bust out laughing. But Effie seemed less than impressed.

"You need to watch yourself Katniss," she scolded, "We are friends, I know, but if you anger or upset the Capitol, you will be on your own."

I nodded once and sat beside Peeta on the couch. He smiled at me and I smiled slightly back.

He was a nice guy, even if it was just a ruse.

"Hello everyone! Welcome back to the annual Hunger Games news coverage! I'm Caesar Flickerman, for those of you that don't already know that!" he winked at the camera, "And tonight we will be unveiling the scores of todays private sessions with the Gamemakers!"

The numebrs were average, all 7 and 8's, aside from the 10 that the male District Two tribute recieved. A 9, two 6's.

My heart was in my throat as Peeta's number, an 8 was announced. Mine was next. I had my fingers crossed.

"Higher than 5, higher than 5," I whispered.

Peeta placed his hand on my leg and squeezed gently.

"Finally, Katniss Everdeen," Flickerman said.

The pause was long. Uncomfortable. I felt ill.

"11!" Caesar exclaimed.

My jaw fell open. Effie shrieked. Cinna and Portia and our prep teams burst into applause.

"Katniss!" Effie cried as Haymitch took me in a one armed hug. "Great job!"

I laughed nervously. She hugged me tightly. Cinna and Portia hugged me as well.

"I guess they liked apple juice," Peeta chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me in a gentle hug.

"I guess so," I said, hugging him back.

**AN: I'm writing this story in a notebook before I post it online and I'm already done up to 19 chapters! I'm going to try to catch up to that within the next few days, so keep your eyes open for my updates!**


	10. The Interviews

**AN: Please note that I'm focusing a little more on developing Katniss' relationships with people than on the preparation for the Games and the Games themselves. Also, I changed the events of the Games a little to better fit with my story so when it get's to the Games, don't be surprised! Regular disclaimer here. Pretty please review! Have a wonderful day! **

"You look stunning Katniss," Cinna said, stepping back to admire his creation.

I looked in the mirror and my jaw dropped. "Oh Cinna," I gasped, lowering my hands to the skirt. "It's breathtaking."

The red, orange, yellow and white gown was dazzling with countless precious stones sewn into the fabric all over. My hair was curled over one shoulder with red highlights. My makeup was flawless. My skin shimmered gold.

I was radiant.

"Thank you so much," I said to Cinna, spinning around.

"Of course," he grinned, "Are you ready for your interview?"

I shrugged. "I have to be," I laughed.

He chuckled and opened the door before taking my arm and leading me down the hallway to where Peeta, Portia, their prep team, Effie and Haymitch stood waiting.

Peeta looked very handsome in a black suit, black shirt and a red, orange, yellow and white tie to match my dress.

"Oh Katniss," Effie said, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," I said with a smile.

Within five minutes we were with the other tributes, sitting in a semi-circle around the stage. Caesar sat in the centre of the stage dressed in his brightest blue suit with thousands of tiny electrical lights all over, lighting him up.

The crowd was huge, bigger than the previous years.

Peeta reached over and squeezed my hand encouragingly. I smiled at him and then sat, facing Caesar, ankles crossed, silent.

"Welcome all!" Flickerman exclaims, "We have an excellent night of interviews with our twenty four tributes. They will each be given a three minute interview with an intermission about halfway through. Without further ado, District One's Glimmer!"

The first half came and went. I wasn't really listening after the first few people to be honest.

Finally, it was my turn.

"And now, from District Twelve, previous Hunger Games victor and mentor, Katniss Everdeen!"

The applause was much louder than anyone else's.

Peeta got to his feet and helped me down the four steps to the stage. "Thank you," I told him gently before walking towards Caesar, the brightest smile I could manage on my face.

"Katniss my dear!" Caesar exclaimed, "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" I replied, "I've missed you though!"

"Stop it! You'll make me blush!" Caesar said.

I laughed easily with the audience as I hugged him. Then I sat in the chair provided.

"So Katniss," Caesar said, "This is your second Hunger Games! Are you excited?"

"Oh, of course," I said, "This is a great experience. You learn so much about yourself out in the arena."

"And you volunteered!" Caesar exclaimed, "Didn't like being a mentor?"

"No, being a mentor was great!" I said, "My sister got chosen though and I couldn't let her go out there. She's only twelve. She would have been terrified. So I volunteered for her."

"We saw the tapes," Caesar said, "Truely devastating! You love her very much?"

I nodded, feeling a ball forming in my throat.

"Did she say goodbye to you after the Reaping?" Caesar asked.

I nodded quickly.

"What did she say?" Caesar asked.

"She asked if I would come back to her again," I said, voice small.

"And what did you say my dear?" Caesar asked.

"I said I would," I told him, tears pricking my eyes, "Goodness, Caesar, you're going to make me cry!"

Caesar handed me a tissue from inside his jacket and I daintily dabbed my eyes, trying not to disturb my makeup.

"Eleven!" Caesar exclaimed, breaking the heartbroken silence in the circle, "Wow Katniss! How did you score so high?"

I cleared my throat and laughed. "You know I can't tell you that," I told him.

"It was well worth the shot my dear," he replied, "But on another note, you look beautiful!"

"Oh, thank you!" I exclaimed getting up to spin in my dress, "My stylist Cinna is superb at what he does!"

"Can we get a round of applause for Cinna, the amazing stylist?" Caesar asked, "Isn't Katniss gorgeous?"

The crowd erupted into cheers so loud I thought my eardrums would burst.

"Wow," I said after the crowd settled down, "Thank you all so much!"

"The crowd loves you sweetie!" Caesar exclaimed, "Now, what have you been up to since we last saw you?"

"Jusat relaxing. Spending time with my mother and sister. Mentoring last year!" I replied.

"Very good," he said, "You do look well rested!"

I smiled as the crowd applauded.

"And last question before we run out of time," Caesar said, "Do you have any plans for the Games this year? Any more accidental poisonings?"

"A lady never tells," I laughed, tapping the side of my nose, "But seriously, probably not. I think that has run it's course!"

The buzzer went off as Caesar laughed.

"And we are out of time. Thanks Katniss. Good luck!" Caesar said.

There was a huge round of applause as I got to my feet, hugged Caesar again and made my way back to my seat. Peeta offered me a hand as I went back up the steps to my chair.

I sat, dazed, wondering if anyone had caught on to how fake and awful that interview just was. It didn't have any substance. Just two old friends catching up.

I wouldn't get any sponsors from that.

"Now Peeta," Caesar was asking when I started paying attention again, "You're a handsome young man. Do you have a girlfriend back home?"

Peeta chuckled and shook his head, "No sir," he said.

"Really? No girls at all?" Caesar pushed slightly.

Peeta looked down. "Maybe one," he said, "But she's not my girlfriend. In fact, I'm pretty sure she didn't know who I was until now," Peeta said.

I looked up at the screen watching his face.

"It's never too late Peeta, my boy!" Caesar exclaimed, clapping him on the back, "Win the Games, go back home and make her yours son!"

"Unfortunately, it's slightly more difficult than that," he said.

"Why's that?" asked Caesar conspiratorially, leaning in.

"Because she won't be there if I go back home," Peeta said. He took a deep breath. "Because she came here with me."

**AN: I'm writing this story in a notebook before I post it online and I'm already done up to 19 chapters! I'm going to try to catch up to that within the next few days, so keep your eyes open for my updates! Also please review! I read all of them and it makes my day to hear what you think!**


	11. The Explanation

**AN: Bonjouuuuur folks! I warned you in the previous chapters authors notes that updates would be fast and furious for the next little while as I'm catching up to where I am in my notebook! I hope you don't mind too much! ;) I haven't written this in awhile, so here it is. I don't own the Hunger Games. I don't own the characters or the plot. I'm just borrowing them and returning them later. I hope you're enjoying my story! Review and all that jazz! CHAPTER 11 LADIES AND/OR GENTLEMEN!**

There was silence in the crowd as Peeta's words sank in. I was staring at the screens watching Peeta's downcast face when it changed to my own confused face.

Shit.

Me. He meant me.

"Oh God," I mumbled, clapping my hand to my mouth, jaw dropped.

"Bad luck," Caesar said after a moment, "She didn't know?"

"No sir," Peeta said.

The buzzer rang, my bright red face still on the screens.

The audience went wild. Screaming, clapping, crying, applauding, laughing. Peeta got to his feet, shook Caesar's hand and then walked back towards me. His gaze was on the floor but then travelled up my body and landed on my face.

I looked away.

I was speechless.

Once the crowd quieted down, Caesar spoke again. "Wow!" he exclaimed, "Lots of news learnt tonight, hey?" he asked

There was a loud cheer.

"Thank you for joining us for our annual tribute interviews," Caesar said, "Can we have one more round of applause for our tributes?"

The crowd went wild as we got to our feet. The anthem was played and then we walked off the stage, single file to the elevators.

I was silently seething until we got to the penthouse that the District Twelve teams shared. As soon as we stepped out of the elevator I whirled around to glare at Peeta.

"What was that?" I demanded, "What the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Peeta asked, genuinely seeming not to know what was wrong.

"You told Panem, ALL of Panem, that you love me! What the hell did you just do?"

"I answered the questions," Peeta shrugged, "What's the matter?"

"You are such an idiot! You totally-" I couldn't even speak.

"He made you seem more desireable," Haymitch said, "He just helped you get sponsors."

"He made me weak!" I shrieked.

"I was trying to help!" Peeta replied, putting his hands up in surrender.

"I don't need your help!" I spat at him.

"Katniss," Peeta said gently, reaching out for my hand.

I smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me," I said coolly, "Don't you fucking touch me."

"Katniss," Haymitch said

"Don't Katniss me," I snapped at him. I pointed my finger into Peeta's chest. "Watch yourself," I told him before stomping out of the room, Cinna on my tail.

Once in my room, Cinna helped me undress and his team took off my makeup before I got in the shower.

When I was done washing away the gold shimmer, I dressed in a pyjama set and went into my bedroom.

Cinna was waiting for me. "Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire," he said, smiling softly, "You okay?"

"I can't believe what he said!" I exclaimed, flopping down on the bed angrilly.

"He was trying to help you out Kat," Cinna said, "He and Haymitch though that would work best."

"They were wrong," I said, "They should have said something to me."

"Your reaction was needed," Cinna said, "It needed to seem legitimate or else people would catch on."

I sighed loudly and sat up. "I'm going to sleep," I said, "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course, my girl," he said, "Goodnight."

"Night," I said.

But as I lay awake in bed two hours later, I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep.

I rolled out of bed, wrapped myself in a blanket and then made my way to the roof. When I got there, Peeta was already there.

"Hey," I said softly.

He jumped, then turned to look at me. "Hi, sorry. I was just leaving," he said, getting up and wiping his eyes.

"No, stay," I heard myself say.

He hesitated, then sat back down. "Can't sleep?" he asked, drying his tearstained cheeks with his shirt.

"No. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Tough week," he forced a laugh.

"I know," I said moving to sit next to him.

"Katniss, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean, I didn't mean to cause you any probems," he said shivering.

I unwrapped the blanket from around myself and pulled it around both of us. "It's whatever," I said, "Water under the bridge. Don't worry."

He sighed. "I'm not a bad person," Peeta said, "I don't know why I said anything."

"Peeta," I said, but he kept going.

"And you're dating Gale. I shouldn't have said anything. I just made things ten times harder for you," he said.

"Peeta, Gale and I are over. I ended it with him when we were saying goodbye," I said.

He looked at me closely.

"I can see how saying you liked me would help us," I said, "I talked to Cinna. I'm sorry for getting so angry. It took me by surprise."

"I should have warned you," he said, shaking his head.

"You needed my reaction," I said, shrugging, "I get it. It's okay."

He stared at me.

I stared at him.

And then his lips were on mine. It was only for a second. A graze, if you will. And then we leaned away from each other.

"Were you lying?" I asked, "About having feelings for me?"

"No, that's real," Peeta said, "I've liked you since we were five."

"Oh," I whispered.

He kissed my temple.

And for the first time in a long time, I felt safe.

**AN: Voila! It's starting to get a little more different than the books! Let me know if you like it! I know that for me I wanted alot more kissing/relationship development between Katniss and Peeta in the books so that what I'm going to do! Let me know if you agree! Reeeview!**


	12. The SeventyFourth Annual Hunger Games

**AN: Yelloooooo! What is this? The fourth update in 24 hours? Hahaha. No big deal guys! We're going into the Hunger Games noww, be ready! It's pretty different than in the books so don't shoot me! (or throw knives, or shoot arrows or chase me with a sweord or spear or something...) Chapter 12!**

The next morning was a rushed blur. From the time I woke up to the time we got to the catacombs underneath the arena, I barely had half a moment to look at Peeta. And as I stood with Cinna, waiting for the Games to begin, all I could think about was him.

Even when Cinna told me he would bet on me if he could, I wasn't flattered. I was too distracted.

But when we were told it was time to launch, my heart started to race.

I was sweating in my uniform. It was uncomfortable despite it's perfect fit.

I walked over to the metal plate, Cinna's hand in my own.

"You know what you have to do," he said "I know you can."

I nodded.

"Water," he said, "That's all you need."

I nodded again.

"Good luck Katniss Everdeen, Girl on Fire," Cinna said, kissing the top of my head softly.

A glass cylinder came down around me and I met Cinna's eye as it started rising up. He winked at me.

As I appeared above the ground, I took in the arena. A flat field with forests all around. The familiar smell of pine tree tickled my nose.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games begin!" said Claudius Templesmith's voice, booming throughout the arena.

I looked around for the required minute, taking in the arena. Lake to one side, cliff to another, forest on the remaining two sides. I looked around the circle of tributes for Peeta.

He made eye contact with me and tilted his head towards the forest. I nodded almost unnoticeably.

I glanced at the Cornucopia, full of food, weapons and bags full with survival gear. They were trying to draw us into the bloodbath. I spotted a bow and arrow.

That was mine. Meant to draw specifically me out.

Should I?

Haymitch said run away. Peeta said hide in the forest.

But I needed weapons. I needed supplies.

The gong rang out and I don't move. I was torn.

But then it was too late to run for the goods at the Cornucopia. I saw Peeta sprinting for the forest, not looking back.

I glanced at the bounty and my eyes made contact with a small orange pack.

I couldn't leave without anything.

So I started sprinting towards the pack. I snagged it with two fingers and wheeled around to run for the forest. I felt a knife fly beside my left ear so I yanked the pack up to protect the back of my head and my neck. Another knife was thrown and connected with my bag. I stumbled as I tried to rip out the knife and then I was tackled to the ground.

It was the boy from District 9. His brown eyes were wide and terrified, but wild.

I screamed as his hands closed around my throat and then gasped for air as they tightened. I tried prying his hands off but they wouldn't budge.

Black spots were blocking my vision. I was going to die.

I grabbed around me, fingers searching for something, anything. My fingers closed around the knife and I swung it up.

The blade connected with the boys arms and he released me.

I managed to kick him back off of me, stumbled to my feet and gasped in a deep breath. "I'm sorry," I said before bringing the knife down into his chest.

I yanked it out immediately and took off sprinting for the woods without a backwards glance, heart in my throat.

"I'm so sorry," I said softly.

**AN: Oh dear! So you see a little of the changing of the story I'm doing. More will come! I'll be putting up a few more chapters today too I believe. Thank you thank you!**


	13. The Alliance

**AN: I don't own the Hunger Games (believe it or not!) Hahaha. Enjoy!**

An hour later I was thirsty and sweaty but still running. I couldn't put enough space between me and the boy I had just killed.

Finally, when I couldn't run anymore, I crouched down and leaned against a tree, trying to catch my breath. A ball formed in my throat, but I didn't want to cry. I didn't want the cameras to see how affected I was by what I did. I breathed in deeply and massaged my neck where the boy had grabbed it. My eyes were closed, forcing the tears back.

"You know, he would have killed you," said a tiny voice.

I opened my eyes and jumped to my feet, holding out the knife for protection.

It was the twelve year old from District 11. Rue, I think her name was. She had her hands held up in surrender. "My name's Rue," she said, "I'm not going to do anything," she said.

I stared at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked

"Why are you here?" I countered back.

"I saw the Careers joining up and talking about killing you," she said, "I thought you'd have a better chance if you were allied with someone."

"I have Peeta," I said.

"He was with them," Rue said, "The boy from your district."

"What?" I asked.

"Peeta, the boy who likes you, he was with the tributes from District One and District Two," she said.

"I don't believe you," I said.

"He was," Rue said indignantly, putting her hands on her hips.

She reminded me of Prim. I lowered the knife.

"Why did you come after me?" I asked, "Why are you helping me?"

"I saw what you did for your sister. I only wish I had someone who loves me as much as you love her," Rue said, "I want you to go home and see her again."

I didn't move. I didn't know if I could trust her.

"Katniss, if I was going to kill you, I would have when your eyes were closed," Rue said, "I didn't have to announce myself."

I hesitated. "Okay," I said after a minute.

Rue held up a water bottle to me. "I found this in my pack," she said.

I opened it and took a small sip. The water was warm from the sun, but it was welcome on my parched tongue.

"Thank you," I told her.

She smiled. "What's in your pack?" she asked me.

I poured out its contents on the forest floor. Some dried fruit. Dried beef. A small sleeping bag. A length of rope. I placed the knife on the ground beside it and closed my eyes when I saw the still fresh crimson blood on the shiny blade.

Rue picked it up and walked a few yards away and wiped the blade on some damp moss.

She returned it to me afterwards when it was clean. "All better," she said.

I smiled. "Thank you," I said.

Night fell quickly and the daily recap started with the anthem. Several pictures of tributes crossed the sky. District 4's boy. District 5's girl. Both of District 6's tributes. Both of District 8's had died as well. The photo of the boy from District 9 seemed to linger in the sky, his face haunting me. I was grateful when the girl from District 10's face came into the sky. Rue gripped my hand tightly and squeezed it. "He would have killed you," she reminded me softly.

Rue fell asleep first as I stayed awake to watch for other tributes.

We switched early in the morning, allowing me some uncomfortable rest of my own. My dreams consisted of my previous Hunger Games.

_"If we make this bomb and put it by the Careers camp when they're gone, they'll come back and it'll go off and blow them sky high," said Matthew, the tribute from District 9, my ally._

_"Are you sure?" I asked him dubiously._

_"Yes," he said seriously, "Trust me!"_

_But three days later, the bomb was built and I was still unsure. "Matt, I don't feel right about this," I said, "Something's wrong."_

_"Don't be silly Katniss," he said, "It's going to be fine. Go draw them away from their camp."_

_Hesitantly I turned and walked away. I lit a fire a ways away from the camp and then hurried away to go watch Matt place the bomb. I climbed a tree to watch._

_I heard the careers cries as they spotted the smoke. They ran towards it, weapons drawn._

_Matt darted out into their camp, metal bomb in hand. __He was leaning to put it down when it exploded._

_The noise was deafening. Snow, water, ice, food, rocks, debris from trees, chunks of metal and several bloodied body parts flew everywhere._

_I almost fell out of the tree._

_As the smoke cleared, the cannon went off. Matthew was dead._

I woke up panting.

Rue jumped and looked over at me. "Night terror?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Just go back to sleep," she said, "It's not real." She patted my cheek gently.

Tears stung my eyes once more as I lay back down. She really was just like Prim.

**AN: So there's a little more insight to Katniss' past Game experience. I really wanted to write more about Katniss' relationship with Rue and I thought that this would make it easier, by introducing her sooner. Thanks for reading!**


	14. The Chase

**AN: Sorry for not updating for a few days. I have all my exams coming up so things are a little bit busier for me! Chapter 14! Enjoy!**

Five days passed. Rue and I had managed to escape a few attempts on our lives, as well as several large lightening storms. I had yet to see Peeta, not in the arena or across the sky at night, which was a relief.

Five people had died in those five days, the girl from District 3, the boy from District 5, both tributes from District 7 and the girl from District 9.

So," Rue said gently as we washed our socks in a small creek, "What was up with Peeta?"

"At the interviews?" I asked, "God, I don't even know." I knew there were cameras all over and people were back home watching with bated breath. "I never knew he felt like that," I said, "The same way."

"You like him too?" Rue asked in a hushed whisper.

I nodded, feeling bad for lying to her.

"Wow," she said, "I'm so sorry."

"I know. It's not too good. But at-" I stopped when I heard a twig snap behind us. I whipped out my knife and Rue and I stood back to back.

I saw the District 2 boys face appear between the trees as a knife came flying through the trees, lodging into the tree just to my left.

"Rue, run!" I shrieked, yanking the knife out of the tree and then turning and running along behind the 12 year old.

Another knife came flying, grazing my neck, cutting it. I gasped in pain and clapped my hand to it.

"Go," I cried again, urging Rue to go faster. I glanced over my shoulder. The Career pack was gaining on us. I caught sight of Peeta with them and my heart felt tight in my chest.

We took a sharp turn into a more dense patch of trees. I grabbed Rue's shoulder and stopped running.

"Climb a tree," I gasped out at her. I handed her a knife. "Climb," I said, "And be quiet."

Wordlessly, she did as she was told. She quickly scampered up a tree. I silently hurried to another tree a few feet away.

The careers came into view just as soon as I made it up the tree.

"Dammit," said the girl from District Two, Clove, "Cato, where did they go?"

"I don't know," he said, "District Twelve, any ideas?"

"She's close," Peeta said, "They can't have gotten too far."

The familiarity of his voice made my chest ache. Or maybe it was fear. If any of them looked up, we were done.

I glanced down and saw Glimmer from District One with my bow and arrows over her shoulder.

Peeta looked up and did a double take as he made eye contact with me. His eyes widened. My heart stopped in my chest. Shit. I could feel my grip on the tree slipping and I struggled to hold on. I sucked in a deep breath.

If I survived the fall, I definitely wouldn't survive the careers attacking me once I hit the ground.

Of course, none of that would matter if Peeta told them I was up here.

My boot slipped on the bark of the tree and my hands slipped. I managed to catch myself on the smaller branch just below. It knocked the breath out of me and I frantically wrapped my arms around the branch, my legs dangling.

"What's that noise?" Cato snapped, whirling around.

"There she is!" Peeta cried.

I tensed. Shit. I managed to look back down.

Peeta was pointing in the direction opposite to where we were, but his eyes were on me.

We made eye contact once more before he took off after the careers.

Once I couldn't hear their feet pounding the hard ground and disrupting leaves as they ran away, I let out a sigh of relief.

Then the branch I was hanging from cracked, breaking away from the tree trunk.

And there was nothing I could do as I plummeted to the ground.

**AN: Thanks for being so patient with me and my not updating for, like, 3 days. Hahaha. I hope you enjoyed it!**


	15. The Recovery

**AN: I didn't create the Hunger Games, but I can sure pretend to!**

My first thought when I opened my eyes was if I had died. It was getting dark and there was a sort of fog hanging in the air. My head was splitting with pain and I closed my eyes.

"Katniss," said a small voice, "Kaaatniss!"

I opened my eyes reluctantly.

Rue's familiar face and crazy hair appeared in my field of vision. She reached out and cupped my chin in her hand. She gently shook my head. The pain pulsed in my head.

Nope. Not dead.

"Katniss?" she asked gently.

"Hm?" I croaked out.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

I nodded slightly but my head exploded with more pain. "Agh," I cried, raising my hand to my head, "What the hell happened?"

"You fell," Rue said, "From a tree. You hit your head on a rock and you got a huge cut on the back of your head and neck, so I had to stitch you up."

I reached back to feel where I had hit my head. There was a huge bump and straight in the middle of it was a long line of stitches. I felt sick. "How did you give me stitches?" I asked.

"Your mentor sent a first aid kit," Rue said.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," I told her.

She shrugged. "It was pretty bad. I couldn't not stitch you up."

"What did I miss?" I asked her.

"You were out for two days," she said, offering me water, which I gratefully took. "District 3's boy died. So did District 4's girl."

I struggled to sit up. "Will I be okay?" I asked feeling my head.

Rue nodded. "What do you remember?"

"Peeta-" I said. I hesitated. "Peeta saw me. And then he led the Careers away?" I asked, unsure.

Rue nodded. "I think he might actually love you," she said.

"Maybe," I whispered, "Hey, we really need to move. We've been here for two days?"

"Yeah. As soon as you're up to it," Rue told me, "You don't want to overdo it."

The cannon sounded closeby, making my already painful head throb.

"We have to go now," I said, pulling myself to my feet.

We slowly trekked through the forest, our progress slowed by my still bleeding head.

"The Careers are centred around the Cornucopia," Rue said as we walked, "With all the leftover weapons and food. So I've been thinking, we need to get them away from their food. They aren't used to not eating, so they'll struggle if they can't."

"That would give us an advantage," I said, "Good thinking Rue."

She smiled proudly, just as Prim would have.

"We'll find somewhere to camp out for a few days while I heal a bit and we can plan what we'll do," I said.

She nodded.

We hid away in a thicket of trees, under some shrubs for the rest of the night.

Rue slept first. She'd been up for two straight days and nights watching over me. She slept with her head in my lap, eyes closed, lips slightly parted. Just like Prim.

My heart panged in my chest for my sister. She must have been terrified when I was unconscious.

I gently toyed with Rue's corkscrew curls as she slept. She really was a pretty little thing.

I sang to her softly when she woke up thrashing from a nightmare a few hours later. She smiled at me and fell right back to sleep.

A few hours later, dawn was breaking. Sunlight, weak as it was, started to filter through the trees.

Rue woke with a start. She looked around groggily. "Oh, Katniss," she said, "It's morning! You should have woken me. You could have slept!"

I shook my head. "Silly girl," I said, as a small smile crossed my face, "I don't mind. I was thinking anyways."

"About?" she asked, suddenly alert, sitting up.

"A plan."

**AN: So she's alive! Was there ever any doubt?  
****AN 2: Right now I'm on chapter 23 in my notebook! Alot happens between here and then! Thanks for sticking with me loyal readers! Much love!****  
AN 3: If anyone has any ideas that they want to see in this story, PM me or leave it in a review and I will do what I can and give you a shout out! Thank you thank you!**


	16. The Plan

**AN: So I don't own the Hunger Games, just in case anyone was wondering... Hahaha. Here's the plan that startes to tear down the Careers! I hope you approve!**

"So meet back here?" Rue asked.

I nodded.

"This will work, right?" she asked again.

"It should," I said.

We were silent, staring at each other. And then her arms were tight around my waist, her face buried in my chest.

I wrapped an arm around her and cupped the back of her head with my other hand.

"Come on Rue," I said, "We need to do this before the sun comes up," I said, "There will be plenty of time to hug after!"

She looked up at me and nodded. We released each other and she darted away into the forest.

Two days of planning had passed and finally, we'd figured it out.

Just before dawn, I would run through the careers camp, grabbing everything I could along the way. Once they were distracted by me, they would chase me away and then Rue would run in and use the alcohol in the first aid kit she'd recieved from Haymitch to fuel a fire on their supply pile after grabbing as much as she could. The blaze would destroy their supplies and they'd be out of food.

I stood at the edge of the forest and took in several deep breaths. I whistled loudly to signal Rue that I was ready. She echoed it back.

I sucked in another deep breath, cracked my knuckles and then started to run.

I ran across the field towards where they were sleeping. It seemed like Glimmer was meant to be on watch, but she had fallen asleep, bow and arrows on her lap.

I snagged the bow and the quiver of arrows and swung them over my shoulders.

Glimmer woke up. "Cato!" she shrieked as I tripped over a large boulder. I hit the ground and then rolled onto my back and shot an arrow at her. It went through her neck and blood went everywhere.

She crumpled to the ground as the canon fired.

The rest of the careers awoke with a start and I rolled onto my knees and pushed myself to my feet before I started to run again.

There was a roar of anger from behind me and I glanced over my shoulder as I ran. I couldn't help but smile. They had all taken the bait.

I had a good headstart on them, but I forced myself to run faster.

I reached the forest line and ran a few more yards before I climbed up a tree as quickly as I could. I had a perfect view of the Cornucopia.

I saw Rue flitting across the field, a large tree branch in hand with a strip of fabric wrapped around the end. We had doused it in the rubbing alcohol and Rue had lit it on fire after my birdcall.

She climbed the pile of food and put a few things in her pack before pouring the rest of the alcohol around the base and lighting it on fire.

The wooden crates and alcohol caught easily and Rue ran back towards the forestline, snagging a knife belt or something by the looks of it.

"I'm going to get you bitch!" Cato yelled up at me.

"Don't look now Cato, but your stockpile is running a little low!" I called back down to him.

He wheeled around to see the giant blaze. He swore loudly.

"Stay here District Twelve," he told Peeta, "If she moves, kill her."

He turned and raced back to their camp, Clove and Marvel on his heels.

I looked down to Peeta, training an arrow on him. "Are you kidding me Katniss?" he demanded, "How could you be so stupid?"

"Excuse me?" I retorted, feeling my face flush.

"Burning down the careers food?" he demanded.

"Oh, you mean your food?" I shot back, "That sure sucks for you Peeta, doesn't it?"

"Katniss," he sighed, "I-"

"Save it Peeta," I said, "I heard you bargaining with Haymitch. Make him promise to help you along because you want to help me win? You're a liar. You make me si-"

"Katniss, I was serious," Peeta said, "For this whole thing. I've only been truthful. I wanted to help you all the way to the end and this is the only way I knew how to."

"But you're holding me hostage in a tree?" I asked him.

"You can come down anytime," he said, dropping his sword to the ground.

I eyed him dubiously, but then slid down the tree gracefully. "They're going to kill you for letting me-"

He cut me off by pressing his lips firmly to mine.

My heart pounded in my chest. He cupped the side of my face and gently nibbled my bottom lip. I couldn't help but moan softly and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

We broke apart and I looked up at him, my eyes searching him, "Peeta," I said breathlessly.

"I was serious about that too Katniss," he said, gently pushing my hair back from my face. "Come on. We need to go."

Together we ran away from the Cornucopia.

We had been running for a only few minutes when we heard Cato yell again. "District Twelve!" he yelled.

We sprinted back to the meeting place with Rue and I grabbed her hand and we continued running as far as we could away.

**AN: Awwww! It was about damn time, hey? Hahaha. Sorry again for the slowish updates. They will be better when I'm done exams on the 26th. I hope you guys like what's happening in this story, ie. my story line and how things are happening! Thanks for reading!**


	17. The Bonding

**AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you, my wonderful reviewers! I love reading what you have to say! I don't own the Hunger Games! Here's chapter 17!**

Later that day, Rue, Peeta and I were taking refuge from a huge thunderstorm in a small cave.

"Rue, Peeta," I said, "Peeta, Rue," I said.

Rue smiled at him. "I've heard about you," she said.

"Oh," Peeta asked, glancing sideways at me.

I flushed, shaking my head at Rue.

I knew there was a hidden camera somewhere in the cave and I knew that everyone watching was loving this.

Rue giggled and pulled some apples from her backpack. We all took one and ate them quickly.

After eating, Peeta situated himself at the entrance to stand guard as Rue and I slept.

The younger girl couldn't sleep though, so I propped myself up on my elbow and gently toyed with her hair as I sang to her softly, just like I did with Prim.

She finally dozed off, a small smile on her lips.

"You're amazing," Peeta told me from the mouth of the cave.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"You're amazing," he said again.

I crawled over to him and sat beside him. "Peeta?" I whispered.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can you kiss me again?" I asked.

He smiled down at me and leaned down slightly to push his lips to mine. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, leaning into the kiss.

Kissing Peeta was so different than kissing Gale. When Gale was much more rough and demanding, Peeta was softer and more gentle, but there was an underlying urgency to it as well.

When we broke apart, Peeta rested his forehead on mine.

In the frequent flashes of lightning, I saw him peering down at me.

"Katniss," he murmured softly.

"Peeta," I replied.

He kissed me softly. "You need to rest while you can. Cato won't let up on us once the weather clears up."

I nodded and crawled back to Rue. I curled up beside her and quickly fell asleep.

_"Katniss," Gale breathed_

_"Gale," I replied._

_"Thank God you're alive," Gale said._

_I couldn't help but laugh. He always had a way with words._

_He pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head. "Katniss," he said again._

_I looked up at him._

_His lips came crashing down on mine. He held my head in place as he kissed me hard._

_When we broke apart, I looked up at him. "Gale?" I asked, feeling my bruised lips with my fingers._

_"God Katniss," he said, "I can't help it. I'm so happy you're back. While you were in the arena, I was thinking. About how important you are to me."_

_"Gale," I said softly._

_"Katniss, will you please be my girlfriend?" he asked._

_I laughed, face turning red. "Yeah. Of course," I said._

_He leaned to kiss me again._

I woke with a start to find sunlight filtering into the cave. Rue stood just outside of the cave wringing out the rainwater from her socks.

Peeta was sleeping beside me.

I looked at him, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. My heart panged in my chest.

Gale was watching this. Gale, the boy who I had dated for two years after returning from the 72nd Hunger Games. Gale, the boy I had just dremed about while laying next to Peeta.

I slid backwards from Peeta and went out to Rue.

"Hey Katniss," she said to me, "Sleep well?"

I laughed hollowly. "Sure," I told her, "You?"

She shrugged. "I always have the best sleeps out here when you sing to me," she said with a bright smile.

I felt a ball form in my throat. "My father used to sing to me," I said, looking up at the canopy of the trees.

"He used to?" Rue asked.

"He died," I said shortly, "When I was your age."

"I'm sorry," Rue said to me, reaching over to hold my hand.

"It's life," I said, "No use in being sorry."

She looked up at me for a moment, sorrow in her eyes before she looked away.

"I think we need to gather food today," she said, changing the subject, "Berries and stuff. Squirrels too, now that you have a bow and arrows, right?"

I nodded. "Sure Rue," I told her.

She giggled and went to the cave. "Peeta, wake up!" she called into the cave, "We're going to get food today. You gonna join us?"

"I'm up, I'm up," he grumbled, making his way out of the cave. "Good God. Maybe I made the wrong decision coming to your alliance," he said, poking Rue in the side.

She giggled and pushed his hands away.

I couldn't help but smile.

**AN: Aww! So I'm sorry if this is too cutesy for some of you, but I wanted more Katniss/Peeta in the books, so this is for my own satisfaction! Hahaha. Just in case you guys were confused, Katniss' dream was from when she returned to District 12 after her first Hunger Games and how she and Gale got together. Review please!**


	18. The Best Sleep

**AN: I don't own the Hunger Games! And just a heads up for those of you that read these notes, this is a sad chapter. I felt all teary eyed and such when I was writing it. So enjoy...? Chapter 18**

"Katniss!" Rue's voice shrieked, "KATNISS!"

My heart dropped into my stomach. I whirled around and ran towards her voice.

"KATNISS!" she shrieked.

I ran into a clearing to see her wrapped up in a net, laying on the forest floor. "Rue!" I gasped out, hurrying to her side, "Shh, shh. You're okay!"

I pulled out my knife and was cutting her free when she pushed me over hard. I caught myself and looked up just in time to see a spear going through Rue's stomach.

My heart stopped as Rue gasped.

I whirled around to see Marvel with a victorious look on his face, but before he had time to open his mouth, I was on my feet and I had an arrow on my bow, levelled on his heart.

Without a thought, I released the arrow.

It pierced through his chest and he stumbled before falling to the ground.

The cannon fired.

I dropped my bow and turned to look at Rue. I fell to my knees infront of her.

"Katniss," she whispered.

"Rue, God. Rue," I gasped, "You're going to be okay. You'll be alright."

She pulled the spear out and blood spilled out, staining her olive green uniform a deep crimson red. A tear slid down her cheek as I pressed my hands over her wound. "Katniss," she said, pushing my hands away. She fell to her knees and I caught her and eased her to the ground.

"Rue, hang on," I told her, "Please. Please Rue."

"Katniss," she said again as she reached up and wiped away tears that I didn't know I was shedding, "Don't cry."

I gathered her up in my arms, cradling her as I kneeled. "Rue, you can't die. Not here. Not now."

"I'm not dying," she managed to say, "I'm just having the best sleep."

I choked on a sob.

"Sing me to sleep Katniss," she said, her face growing pale, "Please. Sing."

I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I looked down at my closest friend in the arena. She spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Sing," she pleaded.

So I sang as clear as I could around my sobs. I stared into Rue's eyes and she stared into mine as I combed back her hair with my fingers, cradling her to my chest.

I felt as she died in my arms. As her soul left her. Her small body fell limp, head lolling back, eyes open. Tears still in her eyes.

I choked on a sob as the cannon sounded.

I gently placed Rue on the soft grass beneath us. I pushed her eyelids closed and kissed her forehead. I placed her jacket over her body and lay my head on her chest, tears falling freely.

**AN: Sad sad sad sad sad! I'm sorry if you find Katniss too emotional in this, but I wanted to just show how close I thought Rue and Katniss were. I hope you liked it even though it was super depressing, because I love Rue! Also, I'm done my exams finally! Yay! So more updates and such now that I'm on summer break! Review!**


	19. The Wake Up Call

**AN: I don't own anything! This chapter is just a whole lot of death and such. I'm not too big into descriptive stuff, so if you don't have enough gore in here, you can create it in your own head! Read! Enjoy! Review!**

"Katniss!" called Peeta's voice as he came through the trees towards me, "Katniss?"

I couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

"Oh God, Katniss," Peeta said, spotting me. He hurried to my side and dropped into a squat beside me "I was so scared. I heard the cannons," he said.

"It was Rue," I said.

Peeta placed his hand on my back softly. "I know honey," he said gently.

I struggled to sit up. Peeta pulled me into a tight hug. "Marvel. He killed her," I said, "I killed him."

"I know," he said.

Distantly, we heard the hovercraft coming to take Marvel and Rue back to the Capitol.

"We need to move Katniss," Peeta said urgently.

"Wait," I said, pushing myself to my feet. I stumbled a few yards away and picked a handful of wildflowers from the ground. I hurried back to Rue and placed the bouquet of flowers on her chest. I brought her still warm hands up to hold the flowers down.

Peeta tugged on my arm urgently as the hovercraft came into view. "Katniss," he begged, "Please."

I leaned down and kissed Rue on both cheeks quickly. I placed my hand on her chest above her heart. "Goodbye Rue. Thank you so much."

I took my hand back and Peeta rushed me away from the clearing. We were still close enough to see Rue's body being taken up. Her corkscrew curls were flying in the wind.

My breath caught in my throat and Peeta wrapped his arm around my shoulders tightly pulling me into his torso.

"Well well," said Cato's voice.

We whirled around and Peeta pushed me behind him. Clove and Cato stood across from us a few yards away. Peeta pulled his sword as I loaded my bow with an arrow.

"The lovers reunite," Clove said condescendingly.

"Shame about that District 11 girl," Cato said, "It's kind of amazing she lasted this long. But I guess you can get far riding coattails. Right District 12?" He asked Peeta.

"Katniss, run," Peeta told me under his breath.

I looked at him.

"Go," he said, voice hard.

I hesitated before taking off in the opposite direction. Clove was following me, knives flying.

I was faster than her, but I couldn't outrun her knives.

One blade lodged into the back of my leg and I stumbled. I managed to pull it out as I ran, but I tripped over a protruding tree root and I fell to the ground. I caught myself and was pushing myself back to my feet when Clove caught up to me. She slammed her body into mine and I landed hard on my back, hitting my head on the ground. Black dots clouded my vision as pain split through my head. I felt a couple stitches split and I groaned in pain.

She grabbed the neck of my shirt and pulled me to my feet before slamming me against a tree. I gasped as another stitch split.

Rue's hard work. I closed my eyes.

Rue.

I had to fight for Rue.

My eyes shot open as I kicked out my leg. It connected with her shin and she stumbled away, gripping a knife tightly in her hand.

I kicked at her hand and the knife went flying. I lunged at her and punched her in the jaw.

She stumbled but came back.

After a couple more punches, she managed to grab me by the throat and slam me back against the tree.

Her grip tightened and the pain in my head was rivaled by the ache in my lungs. I needed air.

And suddenly, I was on the ground, gasping. I looked up, and around the black dots in my eyes, I saw the male from District 11 on top of Clove.

He had saved me.

She was screaming. He was yelling. And then I saw the glint of a knife before it went through Thresh's ribs. He collapsed on top of her.

Clove let out a vicious scream of victory and struggled to get out from under Thresh. She succeeded and got to her feet and came back towards me where I was still crumpled at the base of the tree.

But the cannon hadn't sounded for Thresh, and suddenly, Clove crumpled to the ground and above her stood Thresh, a huge rock in his hand, staring down at her lifeless body.

The cannon fired and Thresh pulled the knife out of his chest. He dropped it to the ground and then fell to his knees infront of me. He struggled for air.

"I saw," he said, "What you did. For Rue." He managed to get out.

I was silent.

"Thank you," he said gruffly before falling sideways, dead. The cannon fired again.

I propped him into a sitting position against a tree. I closed his eyelids for him and brushed his hair back from his face. I got to my feet and was starting to run back to where I had last left Peeta when the cannon sounded one more time.

**AN: Oh lordy! There's Chapter 19 for ya folks! Sorry for the slow update. I'll try to do better! Hahaha. Did you liiiiike? Review!**


	20. The Beginning of the End

**AN: I thought that since you all waited so patiently, that I would update two chapters in one go! Also, I have the time and I'm feeling generous! Chapter 20!**

My heart was lodged uncomfortably in my throat as I ran back to Peeta. Tears were running unchecked down my cheeks. I stumbled over my feet.

I was running faster than I ever had when I burst into the clearing where I hadleft them

Cato was speared to a tree, head lolling forward, limp. Dead.

"Peeta?" I called.

"Katniss?" he replied.

I looked in the direction of his voice and saw him sitting a few yards away, bleeding from his nose and a cut on his leg. "Oh God," I said, hurrying to his side. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and we stayed there until we heard the hovercraft coming.

Peeta lead me back towards the Cornucopia, limping slightly because of his leg.

When we got there we sat together, his arm around me, his other on his nose which was still bleeding.

There was something calming about being the only two left in the arena. Knowing that nobody could kill you was a great feeling. And as night fell, it wasn't nearly as frightening and we watched the sky together as the pictures of the dead tributes crossed it. Rue's face made my heart hurt and I had to close my eyes.

We stayed put for hours, not sleeping, not talking and when dawn broke and birds began to sing, Peeta glanced sideways at me.

"You need to kill me Katniss," he told me.

I looked up at him, confused.

"So you can go home. You need to kill me," He said.

I shook my head, surprised. "What?" I asked him.

"Katniss," he sighed.

"No. What you're saying isn't making an sense," I said, "I'm not going home."

"Katniss, if you don't kill me, I'll kill myself," Peeta told me.

I pushed away from him and got to my feet. I grabbed my knife and held it, point to my chest. "Not if I do it first," I told him.

"Katniss, don't be stupid. You need to go home," he said, "You have family that needs you."

"No," I said, "So do you. And I can't go back without you. I - I need you," I said.

He smiled softly. "Silly girl," he said, "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear that." He walked towards me and grabbed the knife and threw it to the grass a few feet away. He leaned down and kissed me softly.

"Peeta," I said when we broke apart.

"Kill me," I said, "Please."

He laughed coldly. "You know I can't do that," he said, stroking the side of my face with his calloused fingers.

"Please," I said, "You can go home! Back to the bakery."

"It won't mean anything if you aren't there too," he told me, "I love you Katniss."

I stared up at him.

His eyes were sincere, not faltering. He meant it.

"I have an idea," I said after a moment, "Follow me."

**AN: Sappy and such, I know. And Katniss is all awkward and stuff. Lol. I'm sorry! I hope you liked it anyways. Review!**


	21. AN: The Dreaded Writers Block

**Sorry guys this is all one authors note!**

**Its finally happened. My short attention span for things has finally cut this story off. Im actually pretty sad about that... But here's the deal, I have about 4 more chapters written out in my notebook and so we have a couple of options.**

**A, I post them all right away, bam bam bam, just sit down and power them all out and then take a break from the story for a little while and hopefully get inspired again.**

**B, I post them slowly over a couple of weeks and pray that I want to continue after the last week and I have more ideas.**

**C, I just don't post those chapters and wait until I'm inspired again.**

**I really want to finish this story. It's the longest and I've put the most effort into it and all of my readers seem to enjoy it. Personally I think that B is the best option but let me know what you think. **

**Feel free to toss out any ideas for the story that you have or give any advice to stick with this story. I'm disappointed with myself actually that this happened again... Review or PM me what you think, any encouraging words, pleading to continue or ideas of what to do are welcome.**

**I'm sorry for getting all your hopes up with an update! I know that's not what alot of you were expecting and definitely not what you wanted, so I'm very very sorry! I want this story complete just like you all do, so feel free to advise me, my dear readers.**

**Again, so sorry!**


	22. The Homecoming

**AN: Why hello! So nice to see you all again! I don't own the Hunger Games and all that jazz. **

**Also, just to clear up a few things with a 'Guest" one of my anonymous reviewers who ticked me off alot, this story adaptation is all my creation. I made stuff up so that this story could happen so logically, no, people can't go back into the arena twice except for the Quell in the books, but guess what? I wanted them to, so I made it happen, because I'm the author of this adaptation. Also, if you, my dearest anonymous reviewer 'Guest' had read my authors note correctly, you would have noticed that no, I didn't have writers block after the last chapter posted (chapter 20), I had writers block after the last chapter I'd written out by hand (chapter 24). Also, before you decide to hand out any more "I'm so smart about the Hunger Games and you're an idiot although you've already written a whole lot of chapters about this" comments to people who can actually write decently, check your own grammar and your spelling. It's "nightlock", not "night lock". It's "announces them as victors", not "pronounces them victor" and they get threatened by "Snow", not "snow". It would be hard to be threatened by white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky up north in wintertime. If you are interested in the difference between Snow and snow, I will kindly post some links on my profile so you can view the difference. **

**To my other reviewers who urged me on and read this story religiously, thank you very much. I'm going to try my hardest for all of you to finish this story off. I really do appreciate all your helpful reviews. Keep reading and reviewing! Enjoy!**

"On three?" I asked Peeta, looking up from my handful of nightlock berries to his face.

"On three," he agreed, looking up from his own handful.

"Peeta," I said softly.

"Yes?" he asked.

I leaned up and grazed my lips across his own. "One," I said.

"Two," he responded.

"Th-" we started together.

"STOP STOP STOP!" yelled a voice, "Drop those berries!"

I met Peeta's gaze and he looked as confused as I felt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you all, the winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of District Twelve!" declared the voice of the Head Gamekeeper.

I dropped the poisonous berries to the ground and scooped Peeta's from his hand as well. The dark juice had stained my hand and I started down at the dark splotches before looking up at Peeta.

He was smiling at me. "We made it," he said.

The Hovercraft came and transported us up into it. We were seperated without so much as a backwards glance.

I was stripped and bathed and then the doctors came to look at me. They put a needle in my arm so that clear liquid could slowly drip down the tube and into my body.

The white lights, white walls, white lab coats and white equipment spun around me and I closed my eyes against it.

I felt myself falling asleep.

But we had made it and I couldn't help but smile.

When I woke up, Haymitch was seated beside my bed. He was dazed, staring at the wall.

"Haymitch?" I managed to ask.

He shook his head and looked down at me. "Katniss!" he said with a smile, "Welcome back."

"You thought you'd gotten rid of me, didn't you?" I joked.

"Yes," he said seriously, then laughed.

I laughed too. "Where's Peeta?" I asled.

"Loverboy had to go get ready," Haymitch said, "Your interview is in a few hours."

"Interview?" I asked confused, "We just got back yesterday."

Haymitch held up three fingers. "You were out for three days," he said.

"What?" I demanded, trying to sit up, "Why?"

"When you fell out of the tree," Haymitch said, "You cracked your head harder than we all thought. Your brain was bleeding. They had to do surgery. They kept you in a coma to help healing, but youre fine now," he said.

"Peeta's doing the interview without me?" I asked.

"Not if I can help!" declared Cinna, coming into the room, "Katniss Everdeen, Girl on Fire," he said, "I'm so proud!"

"Cinna!" I exclaimed, "I didn't think I'd see you again!"

"Well here I am!" he cried, throwing his arms wide open as he swooped down for a hug, "As always!"

I hugged him tightly.

After showering, I handed myself over to Cinna. "How's Peeta?" I asked as he curled my hair by himself.

"He's good," Cinna said, "Loyal. Wouldn't leave your bedside while you were unconscious. Didn't want you to wake up alone I suppose," Cinna said with a smile.

I smiled as well.

"Haymitch kept trying to send him away though. He wouldn't even leave you for a shower. He stank," Cinna said, laughing.

I laughed as well.

"Do you really like him Katniss?" Cinna asked.

"I think so," I said with a soft smile.

**AN: Now I realize this was short and mostly, I was just complaining about annoying people and I'm sorry! I'll update again today hopefully! Review!**


	23. The Return Interview

**AN: Bonjour! This is part 2 of my update today so make sure you read the other chapter before this one if you haven't already yet! I don't own the Huinger Games, I just borrowed it's characters and made them do as I pleased.**

I stood backstage, tapping my toe to the ground anxiously. I was dressed in a light yellow dress with my hair in loose curls. Cinna had wanted to go for an innocent look after all the bloodshed in the arena.

I had yet to see Peeta since we returned and I could hardly wait.

Finally, I was given my signal to make my entrance. I walked onto the stage to a roaring crowd. I could feel my eardrums practically rattling. "KATNISS!" srieked the audience.

I smiled and laughed, waving as I walked towards Caesar. I hugged the man easily and he gently patted my back.

When we broke apart, he turned to the audience. "And now, Peeta Mellark!" he called.

I wheeled around and I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face as he started walking towards us.

He was wearing a grey suit with a light yellow shirt to match my dress. He looked amazing.

He made it halfway to me when I couldn't wait anymore. I hurried across the stage to him and threw my arms around his shoulders tightly. He hugged me back just as fiercely. He kissed my temple softly as he held me close.

Finally, we broke apart and clasped hands as we walked to Caesar. Peeta shook his hand and the three of us sat down.

"I assume that was the first you've seen each other?" Caesar asked.

I nodded, flushing. "Sorry," I apologized.

He laughed. "Nobody minded," he said. The audience applauded in response. "Were you kept apart upon your return?"

I shook my head no. "No, I've been unconscious since we got back," I said, "Peeta's been by my side every day though. But this is the first I've seen him."

"Unconscious?" Caesar asked, "Why?"

"When I fell out of that tree, I did alot more damage than anyone had guessed," I said in explanation.

"Peeta, did you know she fell from the tree?" Caesar asked.

"Not until we got back," he said, squeezing my hand tightly.

"But you're alright now?" Caesar asked me.

I nodded. "Good as new," I replied with a smile at the crowd.

They applauded.

"Now, back to the Games," Caesar said, "Peeta, you made an alliance with Clove, Cato, Glimmer and Marvel on day one. Can you share with us your thinking on that move? As opposed to meeting up with Katniss and Rue from the beginning?"

"Before the Games, I overheard Cato say that Katniss was at the top of his list. I couldn't have him hurt her, so I pretended to be alligned with them so that I could intentionally lead them as far away from her as I could," Peeta explained.

"And Katniss, did you know about any of that?" Caesar asked.

I shook my head no. "I was scared he'd lied about his feelings to be honest," I said, "Well, until I was up that tree and he led them away."

"A truely heartwarming moment," Caesar said, "Right folks?"

Heartwarming? Not quite.

Terrifying? That was a little more like it.

**AN: VOILA! I hope you enjoyed! Review please!**

**Also, exciting news! Recently I've been working on an original story that I've been thinking of posting to FanFiction's sister site, FictionPress. Here's a quick summary for those of you who may be interested in reading an original piece of mine.**

**Kayla King, a recently single 25 year old living in San Diego goes on a weekend trip with her friend Savannah Anderson to Tijuana, Mexico. After their hotel room is broken into and their things are torn apart, they return home. Kayla quickly learns that her ex-boyfriend was a member of the Tijuana Cartel, a violent criminal group located in Tijuana Mexico known for trafficking, smuggling and murder. Quickly, Kayla finds herself in a whirlwind FBI investigation into the Cartel that turns her life around, but amongst the crazy investigation led by her father, she finds herself falling in love with the FBI agent sent to protect her.**

**I'm pretty excited with this work so far, so let me know what you think and if I should post it online. If I eventually do post it, I'll put up a link for you all to go check it out! Let me know what you think!**


	24. The Farewell

**AN: Bonjour! Sorry for the lack of updates, I was on holidays! Also in a couple of days, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out... =( Sad sad sad! Wish me luck folks. I don't own the Hunger Games and now, without further ado, finally an update! This is just a little filler chapter, just to close any gaps that may come up later. Sorry it's not a literary masterpiece!**

When the interview was done, I was checked out again by the doctors who deemed me okay to travel, so we went back to the penthouse from before the Games and got changed.

Peeta and I stood in the main room twenty minutes later, matching as usual.

Haymitch sat on the couch casually and we were waiting on Effie. I turned to say goodbye to Cinna. I hugged him tightly. "Thank you Cinna, so so much," I told him.

"Making you look good was easy," he replied, kissing my temple, hugging me back just as tightly.

"Not just that," I said, my voice muffled into his shoulder.

He rubbed my back gently. "You're welcome," he said.

I stepped back from him and he handed me a slip of paper.

"This is my phone number. I know you have a phone in that place of yours in Victors Village, so call me. I expect to hear from you weekly," he told me, a wide smile on his face.

I smiled and nodded up at him. "Okay," I said.

"Okay," he said with a smile. He kissed my temple. "Stay safe, Girl on Fire."

I nodded up at him again.

"Come on, come on!" Effie shrieked, rushing into the living room, her heels clacking loudly into the mahogany floor, "We're late! The train might leave without us!"

"They're the important people on the train," Haymitch said, gesturing Peeta and myself, "It won't just leave without them."

Effie glared at Haymitch, hands on her hips.

Haymitch shrugged but pushed himself up off of the couch. We didn't want to stress Effie out so we quickly followed her out of the penthouse and down to the train without so much as a backwards glance.

**AN: The only bright side about getting my wisdom teeth out in a few days is that I can update these chapters faster! No other distractions (work, boyfriend...). Just me, my laptop, my readers and some drool...**

**Wonderful.**

**Review please! I love you all!**


	25. The Talk

**AN: August 8th 2012. I'm so sorry for not updating! Argh! So for that, heres a longer chapter! Sorry sorry sorry!**

"So," Peeta said as we stood at the window watching the countryside roll by together.

"So?" I asked.

"What are we going to do when we get back?" Peeta asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Us," he said, "What will you and I do about what's going on between us?"

I glanced up at him and then down at our intertwined fingers.

"And Gale," Peeta said.

Shit. I'd forgotten about Gale. My heart raced as I thought about our goodbye. 'If I survive this,' I had said, 'We can get back together.'

"Katniss?" Peeta asked me.

"Gale," I whispered to him.

"I'm Peeta," he said, releasing my hand, "Are you okay?"

"I forgot about Gale," I said, "How could I forget about Gale?"

"You were preoccupied," Peeta said, "The Games were crazy and you couldn't think about things back home."

"And I was too busy kissing you," I said, taking a step back.

"What's the matter?" Peeta asked.

"Before I left, I told Gale that if I got back alive, we would get back together," I groaned, slapping my hand to my forehead.

"Well I don't know if he'll be very willing to do that now," Peeta said, his voice cool.

I was silent.

"So what are you saying is going to happen?" he asked.

"I'm so sorry Peeta," I said, sliding my hand down to cover my mouth.

His mouth snapped shut, lips forming a hard line.

"Five minute warning!" Effie sang coming into the compartment, "Get freshened up! District Twelve in five minutes!"

Peeta turned on his heel and left without a word.

Five minutes later, the door slid open. Effie and Haymitch stepped out first and then Peeta and I stepped down to the platform to tumultuous applause. We were smiling and waving when I caught sight of Prim running towards me.

I knelt down and wrapped my arms tightly around my sister. "I told you!" she was crying as I smothered her face in kisses. I grasped her hand and stood up straight, not yet willing to let her go.

I glanced at Peeta. His smile was tight and his gaze was fixed. I followed his eyeling and saw Gale. His own face was hard and stoney.

I swallowed hard, trying to regain the courage I had back when I was leaving the Capitol. I waved at Madge in the crowd.

I would have to deal with Peeta and Gale later, but not yet. Not now.

Unfortunately, the time came sooner than I'd anticipated.

Peeta's father had thrown a 'Welcome Home' party at the bakery and almost the entire District had been invited. I was sitting at a table, chatting with Madge when Gale suddenly appeared at my elbow.

"Gale!" I said, my stomach twisting uncomfortably.

"Katniss," he replied, voice indecipherable, "Madge, can I borrow her?"

"Sure," Madge said, eyeing me quickly.

I got to my feet and Gale placed his hand in the small of my back and led me out of earshot of the partygoers. "Welcome home," he told me, voice hard.

"Thanks Gale," I said, ashamed at the weakness in my voice. He was silent, staring at me. "So," I mumbled.

"So," he repeated after me. His voice was hard, his face stoney and unreadable. But his eyes were livid. He was furious.

"Gale, just talk to me," I said, my voice painfully whiney.

"You want me to talk to you?" he demanded.

"You pulled me aside," I shot back.

"I wanted to hear what you had to say for yourself," he said.

I bit my lip, falling silent.

"Dammit Katniss," he snapped, slapping his hand on the wall beside us.

"What?" I asked him defiantly.

"Do you have anything at all to say for yourself?" he asked me, voice pained.

"About?" I asked.

"That stunt with Mellark," he yelled at me, "How you cheated on me on national television!"

"I didn't cheat on you. We broke up!" I retorted hotly, "And besides-"

"We weren't broken up enough for you to do what you did with him," he cut me off.

"Gale, it wasn't what you think," I said, reaching to grab his hand.

"Don't lie to me Katniss. We all saw it," he snatched his hand back.

"You have to believe me," I said, "It was a tactic. Game play. Haymitch suggested it to get sponsors and sympathy."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Katniss, tell me honestly, how much did you think of me while you were out there?" he asked.

I bit my lip. "Gale, I didn't have time to-"

"You didn't have time because you were too busy sucking face with Mellark," he said sharply.

"Gale," I said softly, "Please. You mean so much to me as a friend and boyfriend. You can't hate me."

"I don't hate you Katniss," he sighed, "I just don't think that we will be able to go back to how things were."

I nodded slowly. "I see," I murmured.

"I don't think we can date again either," he said, "The Capitol let you both win because you were 'in love'. They won't take it very well if you reveal that you played the whole country for sponsors."

I nodded again.

"They came for interviews with loved ones when you were gone," Gale said, "Alot of people mentioned my name."

"You don't think the Capitol's caught on already, do you?" I asked.

"Somebody came up with the story that we're cousins," he said, "We can hope they bought it."

"That's not bad," I said thoughtfully, "I'm so sorry Gale."

He heaved a sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face. "I'm sorry too Katnip," he said affectionately. He took hold of my hand and his eyes locked on mine. And even though recently, I'd only wanted Peeta's kisses, more than anything now, I wanted Gale's lips on mine.

He seemed to read my thoughts and he tentatively leaned down and pushed his lips to mine.

It was a short kiss, but it was full of emotion and when we broke apart, Gale scrubbed his face with his hands again and sighed before walking away.

I looked up after a moment and made eye contact with Peeta who stood a short ways away. I hoped he hadn't overheard our conversation.

But I knew he had when his lips twisted into a frown and he looked away, shaking his head.

My heart sank.

Shit.

**AN: Voila my loverlies! Again, sorry for not updating sooner! I hope this made up for it a bit. Lucky me, I leave for Hawaii on Sunday! Yayyyy! I will update if I can whilst there, if not, I will write write write away in my wonderful notebook and post alot upon my return. Thank you for your patience folks, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Review review! **


	26. The Project

**AN: HOLY SHITOLA FOLKS! First off, I am so so so so so so so so sorry about not updating since August. I'm an awful person. So I'm going to give you a couple chapters today! Enjoy please! =P**

Chapter 25

School started up again a month after we returned. It was then that I learned that Gale was working in the coal mines. I cried for days.

Peeta had been avoiding me like the plague as well, but since most people our age in the district had opted out of school to work, our class was small, only ten students, so he was forced to be around me.

We made it to the third day before our teacher paired us up for a project.

"Look, here's how this is going to go," Peeta said, not looking at me, "We bear down and we focus on this project. No unnecessary talking."

"Peeta," I said, "Seriously?"

"Katniss, seriously?" he shot back, looking me in the eyes for the first time.

My heart pounded uncomfortably in my chest. "What?" I asked him.

"You chose him. Right infront of me. After everything that hapened out there," he said, "You chose Gale."

"Is everything okay over there?" asked Mr. Bryant, our teacher.

Peeta jumped and nodded, flashing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He glanced back at me and made a pointed look at the assignment infront of us.

I heaved a sigh but looked down at the paper too, unsure of what to say.

"Peeta," I said after a moment.

"Katniss, please. Let's just work," he said, not looking up.

"I didn't choose him," I said under my breath.

"What?" Peeta asked, looking up sharply, his fingers tightening their grip on his pencil.

"It was an apology and a goodbye," I shot back, "Because I can't be with him."

Peeta stared at me for a long moment, a range of emotions in his eyes. "That's too bad," he finally settled on, but his tone made it seem that it wasn't too bad at all.

I swallowed hard and then looked back at the page infront of me.

My hands were shaking.

**AN: So I hope this was okay. This is only half of Peeta's reaction to it. The next one is coming up soon. I know that school wasn't a big component (if at all) in the books, buuuuuut this worked, so deal with it! Thank you all! Another chapter is coming tonight!**


	27. The Arrangement

**AN: HOLY SHITOLA FOLKS! First off, I am so so so so so so so so sorry about not updating since August. I'm an awful person. So I'm going to give you a couple chapters today! Enjoy please! =P**

Chapter 26

Five months passed quickly and before anyone knew it, the Capitol was beginning to create hype about the victory tour.

In order to escape it, I snuck out into the forest, something I hadn't done since before the Games.

I spent the entire day, from dawn until dusk in the forest, refamiliarizing myself with the smells, the sounds, the peace and tranquility of knowing nobody was out to kill me.

I came back to District Twelve, game bag stuffed full. I went to the Hob and dropped off two squirrels and a bird. Greasy Sae wouldn't accept anything more without paying me back, so I stood outside of the Hob, staring at the squirrel and bird remaining. I decided to go to Gale's house. Since he was working in the mines, I couldn't imagine he had much time off, let alone the time to hunt for fresh game.

"Katniss!" said Hazelle, "What a great surprise! We haven't seen you in a while."

"MOM! Rory hit me!" yelled Vick from inside the house.

"Come in?" she asked me before turning and hurrying in the house.

I followed her and Posy ran over to hug me. "Katniss, why are you here?" she demanded.

"To see you, of course!" I replied.

"Not Gale?" she asked in a whisper.

"Just you," I told her, heart pounding, "Plus I brought your mom some fresh game."

"Oh Katniss," Hazele exclaimed, "You don't need to do that."

"We've been over this Hazelle," I said, smiling, "Either I give you money of I give you game. And since you won't take the money, this is what you get."

"Honey, we're doing fine. Gale has been making momney in the mines," Hazelle said.

"Assurance that your kids don't need to apply for tesserae then," I said, "Prim is prrof that one sli[p is enough. Don't tempt fate."

Hazelle gave a small relieved smile. "Thank you dear," she said, "You really have been a blessing to this family."

I smiled. "Anything for you," I said, "But I better be getting home. So I'll see you around!"

"Goodnight Katniss," she said, giving me a gentle hug.

I made my way back to my house in the Victors Village but stopped short when I saw a dozen Peacekeepers hovering outside my front door. I hesitated, and then steeled myself, marching up to my house. I ducked around them and entered.

"Katniss, there you are!" my mother exclaimed, "We were wondering when you would get back from the Hob!" she said, winking desperately.

I nodded to show I understood. "Greasy Sae had be hard at work," I said, "What's going on?"

"President Snow is in the study," she said, "Go on in."

My heart felt like it was in my throat as I went into the study. "President Snow," I exclaimed as I stepped inside, "What a pleasure. Would you like a drink?"

He gave me a knowing look and my heart pounded in my throat. "I'm fine, thank you."

"To what do I owe this visit?" I asked.

"Sit," he said sternly.

I did as I was told.

"Now Miss Everdeen, all pleasentries aside," he said, "I know what you've been doing. And who you've been seeing."

My heart thumped almost painfully agaisnt my ribs. "Pardon me?"

"Mr Hawthorne is not your cousin, Miss Everdeen," he said, "Not in the least. And I am more than aware of your romantic trysts together."

My heart was in my throat and I swallowed hard.

"As you know, the victory tour is coming upon us. And it would be in your best interest to be just as in love with Mr. Mellark as ever."

"WHat are you saying?" I almost spat out.

"Mining accidents happen often and without warning, Miss Everdeen," he said, lacing his fingers together, "Keep that in mind."

I swallowed hard again.

"Now do we have an agreement?" he asked me sternly.

"What am I supposed to do?" I demanded.

"You had me convinced half a year ago. Convince me again."

He got to his feet as I sat still, mind racing, heart thumping away.

"Good evening Katniss," he said with a condescending smile. He awlked out of the study and out of the house without another word.

My mother peered into the study. "Katniss, what did he want?" she asked me.

I shot to my feet and stepped around her. I set off at a sprint. I needed to speak to Peeta.

"Katniss?" Peeta asked as he opened his front door a short while later, "What's going on?"

"We need to talk," I panted out, not able to catch my breath.

"Get in," he said, eyeing the Capitol hovercraft that passed overtop of us. I stepped inside and he firmly shut the door behind me. "What's going on? I saw all the Peacekeepers at your house. What happened?"

"It was Snow," I said, trying to gather myself.

"It's not snowing Katniss," Peeta said, "It's not even cold. Are you feeling okay?"

"President Snow," I clarified, pushing back hair from my face, "President Snow was at my house when I got back from hunting."

"Oh," Peeta said, leading me into the house, "What did he want?"

"He knew everything!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air, "He knows absolutely everything, Peeta."

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Snow knows we aren't together. He knows about Gale. He knows, Peeta. Everything."

"What did he say Katniss?" Peeta asked, still calm.

"He's going to kill Gale, Peeta. Unless we manage to convince everyone that we're happily together," I said, entirely panicked.

"Serously Katniss? Gale again? God, I'm so tired of everything being about him!" Peeta said, voice rising steadily.

"Peeta," I pleaded.

"What do you want Katniss?" he yelled, "Me to fawn over you and you to act like you feel the same? Again?"

I opened my mouth to reply but no sound came out.

"Why should I help you again? Why should I help HIM?" Peeta demanded, "I cared about you and you went back to him."

"Peeta, Snow is going to kill him in the mines. Rig it. Blow it sky high. Blow him sky high," I said, tears stinging my eyes, "I can't-"

"I SHOULD LET HIM!" Peeta yelled.

I was shocked and a tear rolled silently down my cheek, followed by several more.

"Shit," Peeta said, "Katniss, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean it."

I covered my face in my hands.

"Katniss, don't cry. Yell, scream, get mad at me. Just don't cry," he pleaded, wrapping his arms around me.

I sucked in a deep breath and looked up into his warm brown eyes. "Peeta, I'm sorry. There just isn't another way."

"I'll do it," he said after a moment.

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"At least this time I'll know where you stand right from the beginning," he shrugged.

My heart ached in my chest. "Thank you," I whispered.

He nodded and let go of me. "Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you. So much."

**AN: Oy vey! I hope you enjoyed it. Part two of Peeta being a grump. I hope he was mean enough for you, but I couldn't make him toooooo mean because he's Peeta. Review! **


	28. The Advice

**AN: OH MY GOSH! Don't hate me people. I'm so so sorry that I haven't updated for so long after all my promises. I'm working 2 jobs and going to school full time right bow so I hardly have any time, but enough excuses!**

**I thought I would pull through for you guys, just so I can post a chapter to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy the holiday season with your families and friends and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know!**

Chapter 28 – The Advice

It was the night of the dinner party before the victory tour. Mine and Peeta's first time in public since Snow's less than amicable visit.

Cinna and my prep team spent all day laughing and joking while getting me plucked and waxed and buffed and scrubbed into tip top shape. I just sat there, wondering how in the hell I was going to convince everybody that Peeta and I were still going strong.

"Katniss," Cinna said once we were alone, "What's going on with you today?"

I sighed. "Peeta and I, we haven't been together since we got back. And Snow contacted me. Well, he came to my house. He knew about Gale. About Peeta. He knew about everything."

"And?" Cinna asked.

"He's going to kill Gale," I said, my voice low, gaze not faltering from the mirrored image of myself, "If Peeta and I aren't convincing enough."

Cinna frowned. "But you didn't pretend how you felt about him before," he said, shrugging, "And neither did Peeta."

"But a lot has changed," I sighed, "Peeta despises me now. We haven't spoken in months."

"Those feeling are still there Katniss," he replied, "They will all come out again during the tour. I'm sure about it," he gave me an encouraging smile, "All you need to do is show everyone how you feel."

I sighed again.

"Come on silly girl. Let's get you dressed," he said.

I hesitated.

"Kiss him once, Katniss," Cinna said, offering me a hand. As I took it he continued, "And Everything that you felt and that he felt will come rushing back."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He gave me a signature Cinna smile and I followed him back to the dressing area.

Half an hour later, I stepped out of the room in a slinky dark grey dress with a high neckline but a plunging back. I stared at myself in the mirror and took in a deep breath. Cinna lead me to the door and, not being used to heels, I stumbled slightly as I exited the room.

Effie, Peeta, Portia and our prep teams looked up. Haymitch turned away from the window and let out a low whistle.

"Sweetheart, you look outstanding," he said, "Doesn't she Peeta?"

Peeta grunted, turning his attention back to the television.

I looked at Cinna who gave a small smile before puckering his lips. "You look stunning, right Portia?" he asked.

"Absolutely perfect," she agreed with a wide smile.

My eyes were steady on Peeta. He glanced up at me furtively but when he saw my eyes on him, he quickly averted his gaze.

Cinna winked.

I sighed again.

An hour later, I found myself with Peeta's arm around my waist, his fingers slipping easily under the fabric on my hip. We were both drinking wine as we chatted with three older women.

When President Snow appeared suddenly at my shoulder, I jumped and felt my heart pounding away inside of my chest.

He chuckled.

"Miss Everdeen, Mr. Mellark. A pleasure, as always!"

I bit back a laugh.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked us.

Peeta nodded as I said, "So much fun, Mr. President," with a smile.

He narrowed his eyes at me as he kissed the backs of the hands of the ladies we had just been talking to.

His meaning was clear and it set me on edge.

Peeta cast him a polite look and then led me away. "What a creep," he said, releasing me as we got to the refreshments table.

I sat heavily on a chair as Peeta got us both more wine. I watched as the bartender poured it and Peeta thanked him before returning to me.

He really was attractive. He was shorter than Gale, but more muscular. His hair, which had lightened during the Games, was darker now, back to its usual ashy blonde color. His blue eyes stood out from his pale face. And his lips. I remembered the gentle urgency of his kisses.

I missed them. I missed him.

He sat beside me and handed me my glass. I took it silently, deep in thought.

"Katniss?" he asked after a long silence, "Are you-"

I cut him off by swiftly leaning forward and capturing his lips with my own.

He responded quickly, his hand jumping to the side of my face, caressing the skin of my cheek with his calloused thumb.

When we broke apart, his eyes were wide, shocked.

"Katniss," he said, short of breath.

"I missed that," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I missed kissing you," I said, "I missed you."

Peeta glanced around. "Do you want to talk somewhere more private?" he asked under his breath.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Not now," I added at his insulted face. "We need to act like that was normal."

"So tonight?" Peeta asked.

I nodded with a smile and a quick peck on the lips.

He gave me an easy smile back.

**AN: YAYY! Cinna is a brilliant man. I think he was always my favorite Hunger Games character. Anywho! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and please review!**


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